Here’s why doctors should consider professional indemnity insurance

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Magsaysay award winner Dr Ravi Kannan is credited with leading the widely admired Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Assam. He started with a staff of 23 people and this grew to 451 over a period of around 17 years, providing free or subsidized cancer care treatments to an average of 5,000 new patients annually. While Kannan serves as a shining example for all and brings an aura to the medical profession it deserves, the healthcare profession is not without its challenges. A large urban population has increasingly come around seeing healthcare as a consumer service. Much like with every other sector, consumer expectations are rising from healthcare as well. Small unfulfilled expectations now lead to court complaints and litigation against doctors. Courts have concurred that a section of people are prone to sue doctors and hospitals at the slightest opportunity.

Litigation against doctors is relatively easy as patients can file their grievance in the district consumer forum, where the patient resides. While various doctor bodies have pleaded with courts that doctors should not come under the purview of Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 2019, courts have ruled otherwise. As compared to the 1986 CPA, the latest one has become more consumer friendly. For example, the definition of unfair trade practice has been broadened to include practices such as not issuing proper cash memo or bill or disclosing personal information of the consumer to any other person not in accordance with the prevailing laws, thus making doctors more vulnerable.

Courts have set several precedents holding doctors accountable for negligence. In one case, where a baby was born pre-term at 32 weeks, no advice was given to the family to have the