Doctors must be aware of elements of medical negligence

Kamal Ramkarran

Underscoring the importance of doctors being aware of the elements of medical negligence, attorney Kamal Ramkarran at a seminar held recently said it is key to this group of caregivers in effectively carrying out their “promise to abstain from doing harm.”

At the Continuing Medical Education seminar three Sundays ago at the National Cultural Centre, Ramkarran, a former member of the medical council, edified doctors on what constitutes the type of negligence with which they ought to be concerned. 

He said that three elements must be proved by evidence that satisfies a judge that it was more likely than not that the doctor was negligent. Those elements are—that the doctor had a duty of care, that he breached that duty and as a result, caused damage or loss which should have been foreseen.