Source DNA newspaper dated 30/01/2013
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People want speedy justice, let’s ensure it: SC to courts
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People want speedy justice, let’s ensure it: SC to courts
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Limited Medical Negligence
Source: The Times of India
Surgeon to pay for ‘incomplete’ prescription
By Rebecca Samervel,
TNN | Jan 29, 2013
The country's top consumer commission has held a Delhi
doctor guilty of "limited medical negligence" for verbally advising,
instead of prescribing in writing, the use of eye drops to a patient who lost
his vision following its prolonged application.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on January 16 upheld an order of the Delhi consumer commission that directed Dr Vivek Pal to pay the patient, Delhi-based Devinder Singh Gupta, compensation of Rs 50,000. In its decision, the apex body faulted the eye surgeon for not spelling out in writing the "dosage and duration of the medicine". And at the same time, it blamed Gupta for not turning up for follow-ups and for continuing the drops despite being provided just one vial by the doctor.
The case dates to June 1993, when Gupta consulted Dr Pal for a problem in his left eye. The doctor diagnosed it as an "innocuous growth" called Pytreygium and advised its removal through minor surgery lest it get bigger. Dr Pal assured that the eye would be normal in five days. After the surgery was conducted at the doctor's clinic, Gupta was prescribed medicine for local application along with oral medication. Soon after however, he felt pain and irritation in the left eye as it became red.
A suffering Gupta returned to Dr Pal. In one consultation, the surgeon told him to continue the local application medication, Mitomycine-C. In another, he changed the medication. But all through, Gupta alleged, his eye kept worsening, leading to loss of vision.
Finally, Gupta consulted another ophthalmologist, who informed him that the left eye had become very dry as Mitomycine-C was "wrongly prescribed". Gupta was asked to consult other specialists who too confirmed that the eye was damaged due to the medicine's protracted use. He was warned to stop all medicines.
Alleging that the eye damage adversely affected his professional and personal life, Gupta filed a complaint with the Delhi consumer commission in 1995.
Denying the accusations, Dr Pal maintained that the surgery went satisfactorily. He said that Gupta was asked to use a medicine for local application and, once the eye was healed after a week, Mitomycine-C (an injection converted into eye drops) for two weeks. This, he added, was prescribed to prevent recurrence of Pytreygium. Dr Pal continued that Gupta was told to use it thrice daily and verbally warned that its overuse for over two weeks could be harmful.
According to Dr Pal, Gupta did not pay heed: the patient did not return for further check-ups to him, continued using the eye drops, and took treatment from other doctors. Only in March 1994 did Gupta return to Dr Pal.
In August 2006, the Delhi commission held the doctor guilty of "limited negligence" and ordered him to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation. It noted that the fact that Gupta could not be excused for "contributory negligence" was a mitigating circumstance for awarding the compensation.
Nevertheless, dissatisfied with the damages, Gupta filed an appeal for enhancement.
The national commission observed this month that since the doctor had converted just one vial of Mitomycine-C injection into eye drops the indication was for its limited use for about two weeks and not several months. "It was under these circumstances that the state commission held the respondent (doctor) guilty of only 'limited medical negligence' for not having put down in writing the dosage and duration of the medicine in the prescription slip," the national body said.
The aggrieved person, Delhi-based Devinder Singh Gupta, lost his eyesight in one eye after prolonged use of eye drops prescribed by Dr Vivek Pal. The national consumer commission upheld a state commission's ruling that said Dr Vivek Pal was guilty of 'limited medical negligence' since he had failed to put in writing the dosage and duration of the medicine. He was ordered to pay Gupta Rs 50,000 as compensation.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on January 16 upheld an order of the Delhi consumer commission that directed Dr Vivek Pal to pay the patient, Delhi-based Devinder Singh Gupta, compensation of Rs 50,000. In its decision, the apex body faulted the eye surgeon for not spelling out in writing the "dosage and duration of the medicine". And at the same time, it blamed Gupta for not turning up for follow-ups and for continuing the drops despite being provided just one vial by the doctor.
The case dates to June 1993, when Gupta consulted Dr Pal for a problem in his left eye. The doctor diagnosed it as an "innocuous growth" called Pytreygium and advised its removal through minor surgery lest it get bigger. Dr Pal assured that the eye would be normal in five days. After the surgery was conducted at the doctor's clinic, Gupta was prescribed medicine for local application along with oral medication. Soon after however, he felt pain and irritation in the left eye as it became red.
A suffering Gupta returned to Dr Pal. In one consultation, the surgeon told him to continue the local application medication, Mitomycine-C. In another, he changed the medication. But all through, Gupta alleged, his eye kept worsening, leading to loss of vision.
Finally, Gupta consulted another ophthalmologist, who informed him that the left eye had become very dry as Mitomycine-C was "wrongly prescribed". Gupta was asked to consult other specialists who too confirmed that the eye was damaged due to the medicine's protracted use. He was warned to stop all medicines.
Alleging that the eye damage adversely affected his professional and personal life, Gupta filed a complaint with the Delhi consumer commission in 1995.
Denying the accusations, Dr Pal maintained that the surgery went satisfactorily. He said that Gupta was asked to use a medicine for local application and, once the eye was healed after a week, Mitomycine-C (an injection converted into eye drops) for two weeks. This, he added, was prescribed to prevent recurrence of Pytreygium. Dr Pal continued that Gupta was told to use it thrice daily and verbally warned that its overuse for over two weeks could be harmful.
According to Dr Pal, Gupta did not pay heed: the patient did not return for further check-ups to him, continued using the eye drops, and took treatment from other doctors. Only in March 1994 did Gupta return to Dr Pal.
In August 2006, the Delhi commission held the doctor guilty of "limited negligence" and ordered him to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation. It noted that the fact that Gupta could not be excused for "contributory negligence" was a mitigating circumstance for awarding the compensation.
Nevertheless, dissatisfied with the damages, Gupta filed an appeal for enhancement.
The national commission observed this month that since the doctor had converted just one vial of Mitomycine-C injection into eye drops the indication was for its limited use for about two weeks and not several months. "It was under these circumstances that the state commission held the respondent (doctor) guilty of only 'limited medical negligence' for not having put down in writing the dosage and duration of the medicine in the prescription slip," the national body said.
The aggrieved person, Delhi-based Devinder Singh Gupta, lost his eyesight in one eye after prolonged use of eye drops prescribed by Dr Vivek Pal. The national consumer commission upheld a state commission's ruling that said Dr Vivek Pal was guilty of 'limited medical negligence' since he had failed to put in writing the dosage and duration of the medicine. He was ordered to pay Gupta Rs 50,000 as compensation.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
2040 Prediction: 15cr Cases, 75k Judges
Source: The Times of India
India to have 15 crore pending cases by 2040, report
says
TNN
| Jan 17, 2013, 03.30 AM IST
According to a conservative judicial estimate
case pendency in India is going to register a five-fold increase to touch 15
crore but the judge strength will go up only four times to settle at 75,000.
The
cry for speedy justice is going to be shriller in the next three decades as a
conservative judicial estimate predicts that case pendency is going to register
a five-fold increase to touch 15 crore but the judge strength will go up only
four times to settle at 75,000.
At present, nearly 19,000 judges, including 18,000 in trial courts, are dealing with a pendency of 3 crore cases, resulting in a civil case lasting for nearly 15 years and giving credence to the adage "justice delayed is justice denied".
The Supreme Court-supported National Court Management System (NCMS), devised just four months back, has put the statistics in perspective. "India has one of the largest judicial systems in the world - with over 3 crore of cases and sanctioned strength of some 18,871 judges," it said.
"The system has expanded rapidly in the last three decades, reflecting India's social, economic and political developments in this period. It is estimated that the number of judges/courts expanded six-fold while the number of cases expanded by double that rate - 12-fold," it said.
The mismatch between the increase in court cases to the judge strength is going to continue. "The judicial system is set to continue to expand significantly over the next three decades, rising, by most conservative estimate, to at least about 15 crore cases requiring at least 75,000 courts/judges," NCMS said.
The policy and action plan document has charted out an information technology integrated monitoring system to make the justice delivery system faster and for that purpose, has created a jumbo supervising process to detect and eliminate glitches in speedy disposal of cases.
If the lack of matching increase in the number of judges has led to docket explosion, it is not going to ease in the next three decades.
The number of cases, as per the "most conservative estimate", will increase five-fold from the present level, but the judge strength would increase only four times from the current strength to 75,000. This means, the judges could expect to be burdened with more work than now, which could extend the life span of cases.
Giving reasons for the estimate, the NCMS said, "As India's literacy rate and per capita income increases, the number of new cases filed per thousand population is likely to increase from the current rate of about 15 (up from around three cases per thousand some three decades ago) to about 75 cases in the next three decades.
"By this time, India's population should be about 1.5 billion. This will mean that some 15 crore cases may be filed into the judicial system each year by them. To achieve a ratio of 50 judges per million population, at 1.5 billion, India will need to have 75,000 judges."
The present lot of judges has matched the litigants' enthusiasm in filing cases. In 2011, over 2 crore cases were filed in the judicial system, and 2.04 crore cases were disposed of. This means every judge disposed of 1,372 matters in a span of 12 months and all of them worked to reduce the pendency from 3.20 crore cases to 3.136 crore, a reduction of over 6 lakh.
Nearly 30% of the cases, that is nearly 1 crore cases, are over five years old, prompting the Chief Justice of India to write to all chief justices of high courts to take up 'Five Plus Zero' initiative to ensure that cases pending for more than five years are taken up on priority basis and pendency of such cases brought down to zero level.
At present, nearly 19,000 judges, including 18,000 in trial courts, are dealing with a pendency of 3 crore cases, resulting in a civil case lasting for nearly 15 years and giving credence to the adage "justice delayed is justice denied".
The Supreme Court-supported National Court Management System (NCMS), devised just four months back, has put the statistics in perspective. "India has one of the largest judicial systems in the world - with over 3 crore of cases and sanctioned strength of some 18,871 judges," it said.
"The system has expanded rapidly in the last three decades, reflecting India's social, economic and political developments in this period. It is estimated that the number of judges/courts expanded six-fold while the number of cases expanded by double that rate - 12-fold," it said.
The mismatch between the increase in court cases to the judge strength is going to continue. "The judicial system is set to continue to expand significantly over the next three decades, rising, by most conservative estimate, to at least about 15 crore cases requiring at least 75,000 courts/judges," NCMS said.
The policy and action plan document has charted out an information technology integrated monitoring system to make the justice delivery system faster and for that purpose, has created a jumbo supervising process to detect and eliminate glitches in speedy disposal of cases.
If the lack of matching increase in the number of judges has led to docket explosion, it is not going to ease in the next three decades.
The number of cases, as per the "most conservative estimate", will increase five-fold from the present level, but the judge strength would increase only four times from the current strength to 75,000. This means, the judges could expect to be burdened with more work than now, which could extend the life span of cases.
Giving reasons for the estimate, the NCMS said, "As India's literacy rate and per capita income increases, the number of new cases filed per thousand population is likely to increase from the current rate of about 15 (up from around three cases per thousand some three decades ago) to about 75 cases in the next three decades.
"By this time, India's population should be about 1.5 billion. This will mean that some 15 crore cases may be filed into the judicial system each year by them. To achieve a ratio of 50 judges per million population, at 1.5 billion, India will need to have 75,000 judges."
The present lot of judges has matched the litigants' enthusiasm in filing cases. In 2011, over 2 crore cases were filed in the judicial system, and 2.04 crore cases were disposed of. This means every judge disposed of 1,372 matters in a span of 12 months and all of them worked to reduce the pendency from 3.20 crore cases to 3.136 crore, a reduction of over 6 lakh.
Nearly 30% of the cases, that is nearly 1 crore cases, are over five years old, prompting the Chief Justice of India to write to all chief justices of high courts to take up 'Five Plus Zero' initiative to ensure that cases pending for more than five years are taken up on priority basis and pendency of such cases brought down to zero level.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Interview of Steven Pinker on Women's Rights
Source: Times of India
Steven Pinker: US women's rights movement made
lawmakers treat rape seriously
By
Srijana Mitra Das | Jan 14, 2013, 12.00 AM IST
Steven Pinker, professor of psychology
at Harvard University, is a highly distinguished
researcher of violence and peace. Speaking with Srijana Mitra Das, Pinker
discussed the Delhi gang rape, the Newtown shooting, how the West won against
sexual crimes - and why there's reason to feel hopeful, despite violent
incidents:
How do you explain violence like the Newtown shooting and the Delhi gang rape, where the vulnerable are badly hurt?
There's no single explanation. In my book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, i identify five psychological mechanisms that impel people to commit acts of violence, together with four psychological mechanisms - the 'better angels' - which inhibit us from violence. These two atrocities have very different causes. The Delhi gang rape is easier to explain. Rape is an extreme end of a continuum of male sexuality - males pursue sexual partners more ardently and indiscriminately than females. Ordinarily, this leads men to woo, proposition, seduce - but in unregulated settings and when men are desperate, low in empathy and self-control, it can lead to harassment and rape. This can be exacerbated in cultures that practise female-selective infanticide. That leaves large numbers of unattached men, generally poor and marginalised, who prey for sexual opportunities. The rampage shootings in the US are less readily explained. Three things go into them - mental illness, low status that triggers a desire for revenge and a desire for fame, even posthumously, killing innocent people the only way of becoming famous. In that way, rampage killers overlap with suicide terrorists.
You write the West slashed high incidences of rape - how?
Part of the decline was interwoven with a decline in violent crime in general. More police were put on the street - they worked closely with communities, statistics were kept on violent neighbourhoods, extra resources deployed there, violent criminals kept in jail for longer periods, better lights, locks and emergency phones were made available. But the decline of rape was more dramatic than the decline of homicide. I credit the women's rights movement and its decision to target rape, harassment and domestic abuse. Women worked with lawmakers, courts and police to treat rape and harassment seriously. Popular culture changed - no more jokes about rape, harassment or spousal abuse. More rapists were deterred - or, if deterrence failed, thrown into jail. Even minor harassment or unwanted touching were punished. All this came about when women began to assume positions of power and make their interests known. It happened quickly because their arguments were irrefutable - no decent person can honestly argue that rape and harassment are justifiable or that we need to tolerate them.
What is the basis of a civilised society?
A decent government with an effective, but not gratuitously violent, police force and a fair court system are essential. This deters and incapacitates psychopaths, bullies and hotheads - and if it earns the confidence of the people, they don't have to become violent in self-defence.
In moments of seeming social collapse, what gives you hope?
We are not in social collapse - this is an illusion created by excessive media coverage of the most dramatic violent events. Rape, once considered acceptable in war and courtship, is now unacceptable. In most parts of the world, it's declined. Rampage killings are extraordinarily rare. In the US, though 27 people were killed in Newtown, 40 people are killed everyday - but the media doesn't cover those killings. And in many countries, homicide rates have come way down over recent years.
How do you explain violence like the Newtown shooting and the Delhi gang rape, where the vulnerable are badly hurt?
There's no single explanation. In my book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, i identify five psychological mechanisms that impel people to commit acts of violence, together with four psychological mechanisms - the 'better angels' - which inhibit us from violence. These two atrocities have very different causes. The Delhi gang rape is easier to explain. Rape is an extreme end of a continuum of male sexuality - males pursue sexual partners more ardently and indiscriminately than females. Ordinarily, this leads men to woo, proposition, seduce - but in unregulated settings and when men are desperate, low in empathy and self-control, it can lead to harassment and rape. This can be exacerbated in cultures that practise female-selective infanticide. That leaves large numbers of unattached men, generally poor and marginalised, who prey for sexual opportunities. The rampage shootings in the US are less readily explained. Three things go into them - mental illness, low status that triggers a desire for revenge and a desire for fame, even posthumously, killing innocent people the only way of becoming famous. In that way, rampage killers overlap with suicide terrorists.
You write the West slashed high incidences of rape - how?
Part of the decline was interwoven with a decline in violent crime in general. More police were put on the street - they worked closely with communities, statistics were kept on violent neighbourhoods, extra resources deployed there, violent criminals kept in jail for longer periods, better lights, locks and emergency phones were made available. But the decline of rape was more dramatic than the decline of homicide. I credit the women's rights movement and its decision to target rape, harassment and domestic abuse. Women worked with lawmakers, courts and police to treat rape and harassment seriously. Popular culture changed - no more jokes about rape, harassment or spousal abuse. More rapists were deterred - or, if deterrence failed, thrown into jail. Even minor harassment or unwanted touching were punished. All this came about when women began to assume positions of power and make their interests known. It happened quickly because their arguments were irrefutable - no decent person can honestly argue that rape and harassment are justifiable or that we need to tolerate them.
What is the basis of a civilised society?
A decent government with an effective, but not gratuitously violent, police force and a fair court system are essential. This deters and incapacitates psychopaths, bullies and hotheads - and if it earns the confidence of the people, they don't have to become violent in self-defence.
In moments of seeming social collapse, what gives you hope?
We are not in social collapse - this is an illusion created by excessive media coverage of the most dramatic violent events. Rape, once considered acceptable in war and courtship, is now unacceptable. In most parts of the world, it's declined. Rampage killings are extraordinarily rare. In the US, though 27 people were killed in Newtown, 40 people are killed everyday - but the media doesn't cover those killings. And in many countries, homicide rates have come way down over recent years.
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