Medical negligence is defined as want of reasonable degree of care and skill or willful negligence on the part of Medical Practitioner while treating a patient resulting in bodily injury, ill health or death.
There are two important components and for negligence either one condition has to be
proved i.e.
Firstly – either there is lack of reasonable degree of care and skill applied by doctor while treating a patient. The patient has been injured, has suffered, or has died due to the non-application of a reasonable degree of care and skill.
Secondly – willful negligence on part of doctor while treating a patient Reasonable degree of care and skill is not defined but it is assumed that the doctor should possess such skill and knowledge as possessed by ordinary competent men practicing medicine at that time under similar circumstances and conditions. Thus a doctor may not be the best in the community of doctors but he should possess average degree of knowledge and his expertise should be at least average in his peer group. Let us take an example – a doctor having MBBS degree is expected to treat patient within his competence and the MBBS graduate is not expected to do coronary by-pass surgery or renal transplantation procedure.
