Negligence by external parties does not absolve doctor from his / her responsibility
Issue -
June - 2025, Posted On: 01 June 2025
Can doctors be held accountable for contributory negligence by patients / attendants? Not usually, unless they also do not do what this doctor did not in this case.
A seventy-year-old woman’s left leg was fractured. The orthopaedic surgeon performed an operation, and implanted a plate. About a week or so thereafter, the patient experienced swelling and discomfort in the leg. The doctor prescribed painkiller and other medicines.
Around eight months later, the patient complained of persistent pain. The doctor, yet again, prescribed medicines. Nearly a year after the surgery, yet another operation was performed as the inserted plate had broken. Blood was transfused during this second surgery.
The patient suffered severe post-operative complications. She slipped into coma; hence, she was referred to another hospital where she died about two months after the second surgery.
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