Kush Morghade, ILS Law College & Dr Jerryl Bnanit
Introduction
Doctors being the quintessential god in our society for decades have saved numerous lives and ensured a healthy lifestyle. In recent years value of doctors has been increasing rapidly and due to the increase in the population of doctors, there has also been an increasing number of misdiagnosis cases and unfair treatments of patients. Therefore, it is very important for every individual as well as every doctor to be aware of laws, acts, and rules that have been created to guide and protect the general public. And thus, in India, The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) was enacted in 1986 which is an important milestone in the history of legislation in India giving rise to new consumer jurisprudence. The following Act introduced a new three-tier quasi- judicial consumer dispute redressal forum i.e., at the district level, state level, and national level for time-bound consumer justice. Before the commencement of this act all the disputes related to negligence of doctors or hospitals were filed under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code to claim the damages or to get the negligent punished. These claims were time-consuming and expensive. After the introduction of CPA drastic changes has occurred regarding referring claims to the district, state, and national forum. The effective implementation of the CPA commenced in 1990. A large number of consumers and organizations started approaching CP A forums for the redress of grievances. The act provides for the establishment of a consumer council to educate the public and the creation of authorities for the settlement of consumer disputes. Consumer awareness is emerging in our country, concepts are implementing, laws are getting amended and consumers are getting more demanding and more educated. Therefore, it is essential on the part of medical professionals to be fully updated with adequate knowledge and awareness about Consumer Protection Act to give render services and prevent consumer disputes at all costs.
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