Tamil Nadu Police Chief's Six-Step Advisory to Cops Before Filing Negligence Cases Against Doctors

Tamil Nadu police chief C Sylendra Babu has asked personnel to follow six steps before filing negligence cases against doctors in an effort to safeguard them from attacks by relatives of patients who died during treatment.

The move follows several cases, both inside Tamil Nadu as well as in other states, of doctors being attacked by relatives following the death of a patient. The Supreme Court as well as high court have provided suggestions on dealing with doctors accused of negligence and the police chief has asked all officers to follow the suggestions of the courts.

The first step towards filing a case against a doctor is to get audio as well as other documents on the patient till his death. Next is to get an expert opinion from a district headquarters on the death of a patient after a surgery or treatment hospital.

“The police before filing a case under IPC 304 (A) must get a legal opinion. Also, unlike other cases where an accused is arrested following filing of a case, in cases involving doctors accused of the death of a patient due to negligence, the doctors must not be arrested,” said the police chief.

Before filing a case against doctors, district police officials must visit the police stations concerned and check all documents belonging to the case and within 24 hours, an express report with details about the way the patient died, documents collected and other details to the police headquarters, said the police chief. The advice has been sent to all police stations.

Though there are CCTV cameras at government hospitals, such things do not ensure enough security to the medical staff, say doctors.

“The government must address the fundamental issue with healthcare,” said Dr GR Ravindranath, general secretary of the Doctors’ Association for Social Equality (DASE). He said the healthcare system has become privatised and free quality medical care needs to be ensured to all. There is complete commercialisation of medical services and that angers the public the most,” he said.

Overall, Dr Ravindranath welcomed the steps taken by Tamil Nadu police chief and added doctors must concentrate while doing surgeries to ensure no negligence.