Wrong diagnosis doesn't amount to negligence'

[Venkat]

Wrong diagnosis doesn't amount to negligence'
(This has all the markings of a scam. On the one hand, during the 'drive' to locate and punish the 'fake' doctors , the criterion was just this - that they improperly diagnosed or treated. (often out of ignorance), why the same scale of 'ignorance' applied on the allopaths ?)
Mumbai, June 23 -- Mumbai Suburban Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum recently dismissed a complaint filed by a resident, seeking compensation from two doctors for his lost eyesight. The complainant had alleged that he had lost his eyesight due to doctors' negligence. The forum dismissed the complaint saying: "Certain pathological tests or super investigations might ultimately prove the initial diagnosis to be wrong but that should not necessarily lead to a conclusion that the concerned doctor was negligent."
It added: "Wrong diagnosis doesn't amount to negligence and like all other professions, medical profession has not reached perfection and a physician has to record initial diagnosis on the basis of initial clinical findings." Ashok Chavan was admitted to VN Desai Municipal General Hospital on November 15, 1994. He was told that he was suffering from meningitis TB. In his complaint filed in 1996, Chavan said Dr K.S. Gadkari and Dr Ajay Tripathi had given him anti-malarial drugs without any tests.
On November 23, 1994, when he felt he was losing his eyesight, he told the doctors. The doctors told him it was due to the eye-drops. Two days later, Chavan was taken for a CT scan to a private hospital but he had lost his eyesight completely. Chavan sought compensation saying he was working as temporary employee with a municipal school at Bandra and wanted to appear for MPSC exams but could not pursue his ambition. Doctors said the CT scan did not reveal any abnormality.
When Chavan complained of blurred vision, he was referred to KEM Hospital where an MRI detected demyelinating disease. The forum noted that the doctors had administered a small quantity of anti-malarial drugs and loss of vision was not the result of the drug.

The forum also noted Chavan could read the case papers when he was called to the witness box, and it showed he has regained sight. The forum held that the doctors were not guilty of negligence.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20100623/10 ... to-ne.html