In Brief
A woman lost vision in her eye after cataract surgery by Dr. P.B. Lall in 1990. Her husband filed a consumer complaint in 1997 alleging medical negligence. The District Forum awarded compensation, but the State Commission reversed this, exonerating the doctor. During the revision at the National Consumer Commission, the doctor died in 2009. The question arose whether his legal heirs could be sued. The Supreme Court held that a claim for medical negligence is personal to the doctor and does not survive his death if no liability was established before his death. However, claims for pecuniary loss to the complainant's estate (medical expenses, etc.) may survive against the doctor's estate. The Court remitted the matter for fresh adjudication.
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