Intern not hospital employee, says consumer commission, junks medical negligence claim

MUMBAI: Observing that a medical intern is not a hospital's employee, the national consumer commission rejected a Mira Road father's claim of Rs one crore, alleging that his 24-year-old doctor son died at his Amravati medical college and hospital due to medical negligence . "An intern cannot be equated with the regular employee. As per Black's Law Dictionary, an intern is an advanced student or recent graduate who is apprenticing to gain practical experience before entering a specific profession." As the complaint has failed to prove that any consideration was paid to the opposite parties, the complaint cannot be treated as a 'consumer'," the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission said last month.

Amarjeet B Mishra had moved the national consumer commission in 2022 after the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission dismissed his plea and also imposed costs of Rs 50,000.

The father submitted that his son, Vijay Mishra , completed his MBBS from Dr Panjabrao Alias Bhausaheb Deshmukh Memorial Medical College in 2015. After completing the MBBS course, he started serving in the medical college as an intern. On March 24, 2015, following a call, Amarjeet rushed to Amravati where he was informed that his son had died earlier in the day. The father further submitted that more than 400 doctors, including the interns, were sitting on dharna in front of the hospital due to the death, which he said was caused by medical negligence. He said that he came to know that there were no life-saving and other medical equipment in the hospital, which resulted in the sudden death of his son.

Following the Bombay high court's directions, the CID conducted investigations in the case. Referring to chats allegedly recovered, the father claimed that in addition to the lack of required facilities, there was foul play and his son was killed by some students over his proximity with one of the female students. He alleged that something was mixed in his drinks.

The hospital denied the allegations. It was submitted that the father was intimated about the ill-health of his son on March 24, 2015, at 4.00am. It is denied that the intern and doctors were sitting on dharna due to deficiency in service on their part and non-availability of necessary equipment in the hospital. "Dharna was a natural reaction of doctors and interns to the sudden death of their colleague.... The son of the complainant died due to a heart attack and the allegation of the complainant that his son died in mysterious circumstances is false. It is denied that the complainant... asked the doctors for a post-mortem of the deceased....," the hospital submitted.