Radiology: Probing legalities of ultrasound
out of medico-legal issues in ultrasonography," says Dr Madhavan Unni, Professor and Consultant Radiologist, Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Kerala. Seconding this, Dr Priya Chudgar, Senior Consultant Radiologist, Kohinoor Hospital, Mumbai avers, "To err is human and radiologists are also human beings. It is not uncommon in radiology practice to miss a diagnosis." Ignorance of law is not a defence. One cannot stand in court and say, 'I was unaware of the law'. It is upto the individual doctors to keep abreast of the rapidly changing laws and indemnify themselves. Like medicine, law also has its own language which needs to be comprehended by the doctors to fully understand the impact.
Medical negligence
The most common complaint registered against a doctor is of medical negligence. But, does it apply to sonologists? Yes, it does! "A mistake committed by the sonologist during the course of his professional duty, could be considered as a 'Tortuous Act',” opines Diljeet Titus, Founder, law firm Titus & Co, New Delhi.
The laws governing medical negligence are, by far and large, a section of Law of Tort, in addition to Indian Contract Act. "Tort is a civil wrong, as opposed to a criminal wrong where a defendant breaches a duty to the plaintiff (complainant). Negligence may be defined as the “breach of a duty caused by the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man
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