In Brief
A patient with kidney stone damage underwent successful first kidney surgery but died during a second kidney operation days later. Her family sued the hospital and anaesthetist for negligence before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), which awarded ₹17 lakh compensation. The Supreme Court allowed the doctors' appeal, holding that medical negligence cannot be established without expert medical evidence from the complainant. The NCDRC had relied only on a magisterial enquiry report and non-medical assumptions, ignoring that the same patient had undergone successful surgery by the same team without incident. The Court ruled that highly technical medical decisions require expert evidence; adjudicating authorities cannot substitute their own perception for expert opinion.
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