Modern medical care can be very expensive. We have managed to push the boundaries of medical care much further in the recent years, and are able to diagnose diseases much better than just a couple of decades ago. As a part of this, we have much better equipment, much better diagnostic techniques, and a much higher level of specialization of the medical sciences. However, one direct result of this is that a lot of medical treatment has got more expensive; this is compounded by the fact that medical services are now increasingly privatized with the providing of medical services becoming a for-profit business. Along with these higher fees comes additional responsibility for these services, and also sees more patients hauling up these medical services for compensation if the treatment has not been correct:

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday directed Max Hospital to pay a compensation of Rs.150,000 to a patient for not properly diagnosing him as a result of which he had to be shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission headed by Justice J.D. Kapoor observed that according to medical literature, sodium level below 120 mg per litre is dangerous and injection Lasix should not be given at all.
The doctor, who administered the injection, was negligent for not monitoring it before giving the injection, the commission said

In many advanced countries, this is the norm. Hospitals and doctors have to be responsible for the treatment they give. Sometimes, informally hospitals and doctors do advance an argument that with the large number of patients they treat, such mistakes can happen. This is not a permissible argument. When a patient has paid the complete amount required, a patient deserves the best treatment, and it is contingent on the hospital to provide the same.

A few states in India have had an emergency helpline number for some time now - the number being 108 (followed by the states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand; and being pursued by the states of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and MP). This is a toll-free number styled on the US style 911 toll-free emergency helpline. The idea of such a number is that this will be the medical emergency number which can be used for contacting in the case of a medical emergency - whether this be an accident, heart attack, stroke, criminal attack that results in injuries, etc. In all such cases, the chances of saving life are much higher if medical help reaches early, in fact, there is the concept of the golden hour when emergency medical help acts as a life saver.

After negotiations for almost a year, telecom minister A Raja has indicated in a letter to health minister Anbumani
Ramadoss last week that 108 is being finalized as the national toll-free trauma care number. “Once a caller dials 108, a 24-hour call centre will receive the information, locate an ambulance closest to the emergency spot through GPRS technology and dispatch it within the golden hour,” a health ministry official said.
Ramadoss said the Centre has already sanctioned Rs 732 crore for the National Emergency and Trauma Care Programme, which was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on December 13.

Motherhood is a very important stage in the life of a lady, and anything that could harm the prospect of motherhood needs to be considered very carefully. Additionally, in a sign that the Supreme Court was aware of the prospect of private hospitals and nursing homes trying to earn more money by conducting additional medical operations on patients (while the patient was on the operation theatre and only relatives had given permission), the Court had asked the medical institutions to take consent from the patient before conducting additional medical procedures (except in cases of urgency or life/death situations). Tying these 2 together, a patient whose ovaries were removed during a medical procedure by a doctor at a private hospital based on consent by relatives, has sought enhanced damages (she was awarded Rs. 25,000 earlier - clearly seems to be inadequate compensation):

In the landmark verdict on January 16, the SC had chastised private hospitals and nursing homes for inflating bills by conducting additional procedures on patients by taking consent from the relatives while he was on the operation table.
The ovaries of the victim, Samira Kohli, were removed in 1995 during a diagnostic procedure at a private hospital by one Dr Prabha Manchanda on the basis of consent taken from her relatives. She had proceeded against the doctor demanding a compensation of Rs 25 lakh on the charge that she was deprived of motherhood. Though Kohli welcomed the guidelines issued by apex court for doctors on the issue of consent of the patient before conducting any operation, she felt that the compensation of Rs 25,000 awarded by the apex court was woefully inadequate.

This is indeed a very serious case, and one feels that the compensation of Rs. 25,000 was inadequate, that too for an operation which has such serious consequences for the lady in question. Given the strictures of the court, it seems apparent that the case did not involve any element of urgent life/death question; as for consent by relatives, they can be easily influenced by the doctor given that they may be in some emotional distress at that point of time.

AIIMS is the premier medical institute of India, and although many private hospitals have great doctors and excellent facilities, AIIMS is still seen as the best medical institution of the country. But just as a measure of how even the great ones have to pay for their mistakes, the Delhi State Consumer Court has ordered it to pay Rs. 1 lakh as compensation to the heirs of a man who lost his voice during an operation six years ago. It was alleged that the doctors at AIIMS botched up and cut a major nerve that resulted in speech loss during surgery to remove a tumour.

NEW DELHI: Holding All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) guilty of ‘‘gross medical negligence’’, the State Consumer Commission has asked it to pay Rs 1-lakh compensation to legal heirs of a patient who lost his voice after undergoing an operation there.
Presiding over the commission, Justice J D Kapoor said the medical reports had established slackness of AIIMS’ doctor. Bedi was operated at AIIMS on August 22, 2001 for removal of a tumor, but after the surgery, he was rendered unable to speak, alleged the complaint. Terming the symptom usual, the doctor who conducted the surgery assured Bedi that he would regain his voice after a few days. But in a subsequent test, he found that a nerve was cut during the surgery and a post-operative negligence in treating the same had led to paralysis of diaphragm, Bedi had claimed during the proceedings.

Slowly but steadily, the medical profession is coming under the coverage of consumer rights; and that is how it should be. Medicine is a very skilled area, and a patient literally places his or her life in the hands of the doctor. If the doctor does not behave in a skilled way or botches up an operation (literally being negligent), then the patient has his full rights to claim compensation for the same. The only shortcoming in this case is that the decision took a long time coming, and came after the patient had already died.

Mediclaim is one of the most important insurance schemes a person can take. Mediclaim involves the payment of a premium that provides an insurance policy for medical treatment; when a person needs to undergo a medical treatment involving a certain sum of money and one which requires hospitalization, the person can get a refund of the money spent. However, there are certain steps and precautions that one needs to take in order to make sure that the money can be reclaimed without objection from the insurance company. In addition, to make sure that the mediclaim is effective, there are certain modifications of the policy that one needs to do. Here are some of these:
1. Stay in the hospital: For most mediclaim policies, the stay in the hospital should not be less than 24 hours for the treatment to be covered by the mediclaim policy
2. Pre-existing diseases: Make sure that you read the fine print of the insurance policy clearly. In most cases, pre-existing diseases are not covered, and are a major reason for the rejection of claims
3. Family cover: You should make sure that your entire family is covered under mediclaim. This allows a combination of individual coverages, and makes sure that higher expenses are covered
4. Start Early: You should start mediclaim as early as possible, and treat the amount of premium as a necessary expense rather than as something that you can decide to do or not to do. In addition, premium is much lower when you are younger
5. Stick to the same insurance company unless necessary: When you stay with the same insurance company and without any claims, you are entitled to a no-claim bonus. So unless you get some good reasons, do not go in for a change
6. Cashless policies: A cashless policy allows the passing off of medical expenses directly to the insurance company, without having to pay the amount of money required to the hospital. This is very important when the amount required is high
7. Getting the claim: Submit documents in time. Most insurance companies have an outer limit of 30 days within which the claim needs to be filed. Outside of this time, it is on a case by case basis
8. Check all the riders and add-ons. Some of them may be more useful to you, and some may be covered in another policy that you have. Make sure that you have gone through the policy carefully
9. Make sure that all the paperwork is submitted: If you have not submitted the required bill or prescription in original, the company may reject the paperwork. Make sure that your submission is thorough and after checking it again.