Medical Complaints

by Kanika Goyal Online Consumer Forum

Medical Complaints

Recently, there has been a significant rise in customer grievances towards hospitals and healthcare providers in major Indian cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, and Chennai. The Medical complaints include medical malpractice and incorrect diagnosis as well as unfair charges for medical treatment. Medical negligence, or medical malpractice, happens when healthcare providers do not adhere to accepted standards, causing harm to patients. Negligence can be present in surgeries, diagnosis, or childbirth in order to increase their earnings from patients. This article discusses about grievances experienced by patients concerning healthcare, medical facilities, and physicians, and offers advice on how to address them.

Famous Postal or Courier Companies in India

1. AIIMS, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi :

AIIMS is recognized as the top training institute for medical science with a prestigious reputation. Students from different parts of India come to this place for education, while patients from various regions of India come here for specialized medical care for serious conditions.

2. Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi :

Apollo Hospital is also known for its technological superiority. It is specialized in Cancer treatment, Orthopaedics, Neuro sciences, Organ transplantation, and Cardiac sciences. Indraprastha Apollo hospital has maintained its excellence in education, research and healthcare.

3. Christian Medical College, Vellore :

Christian Medical College is a top institution in the medical industry, recognized for its advanced technologies, cost-effective treatment choices, and exceptional sanitation standards. Focusing on advanced therapeutic services, neurosciences, gastroenterology, and hematology, CMC offers high-quality healthcare that is available to everyone.

4. Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai :

Tata Memorial Hospital is renowned for its top-notch cancer treatment. Located in Mumbai, this facility specializes in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Tata Memorial Hospital is commonly known as Cancer Research Centre (CRC).

5. Fortis Hospital, Kolkata :

Fortis Hospital is located in Kolkata with a top medical facilities and infrastructure. It offers emergency service for critical patients. Fortis hospital has expertise in the fields of cardiology, nephrology, and urology.

Types of Medical Complaints

Medical negligence

Medical negligence occurs when a doctor, surgeon, dentist, nurse, or other medical professional perform irresponsible activities that fails to meet the recognized standard of medical or healthcare practice.

Improper Diagnosis

Patients in India frequently complain about being misdiagnosed, which is a common issue in the medical field. It is claimed that an inaccurate diagnosis can occur even when a skilled doctor is involved. If a doctor does not correctly prescribe medication for diagnosis and causes a damage in the patient's reaction to the medication.

Medicine Delivery issues

Medicine delivery involves the dispersal of medication by healthcare providers, representatives, and various distributors. The main problem with medicine delivery is the delay in delivery, required medicines are not available at the stores, selling the medicine at a higher rate.

Wrong Treatment

There are even cases where wrong treatment has been done intentionally by the doctor or hospital in order to force the patient to take more and more treatments and tests. If such complaint are found then further action could be taken with the help of consumer court or consumer forum.

How to resolve medical complaints?

Submitting a complaint via the postal public grievance portal is a Central Government effort to resolve public grievances.

Step 1: First, file a complaint with both the local police and the State Medical Council if you've experienced medical negligence. The police will forward the complaint to the State Medical Council, which will investigate and determine if action is needed.

Step 2: If you aren't happy with the result from the State Medical Council, think about sending a legal notice to the doctor or hospital that was involved.

Step 3: If you are still not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint, you have the option to escalate the issue to a consumer forum. Consumer forums specialize in resolving consumer complaints and assisting with obtaining compensation for any damages experienced by individuals.

Most Common Issue Reported for Medical Complaints

Medical Negligence :

Medical negligence occurs when healthcare professionals fail to meet accepted standards of care, leading to substandard treatment. It becomes medical malpractice if this substandard care results in injury or worsens the patient's condition, sometimes necessitating further treatment..

Medicine Delivery issues :

Today's digital world, patients are buying medicines online but many times they are unable to get these medicines delivered to them on time which causes inconvenience and medical complications.

Unjustified Bills :

In some cases medical bills also show services which were not even provided to the patient or the service is included in the bill but was not informed and was not supposed to be given by the hospital or doctor.

Improper Diagnosis :

Most of the time patient get mis diagnised, which is a common issue in the medical field. If a doctor incorrectly prescribes medication for a diagnosis, it can lead to harmful effects on the patient's response to the medication.

Wrong treatment :

Some doctors or hospitals purposely administer incorrect treatment to patients to push them into undergoing additional treatments and tests. If such grievances are identified, additional steps may be taken through assistance from the consumer court or consumer forum.