Informed Consent and Medical Negligence in Indian Law

Author(s)	Mr. Sivakandhakumar S
Country	India
Abstract	Medical practice in India is shaped by court decisions, consumer legislation, criminal law and professional regulations, yet no single statute states what a patient must be told before treatment or when a failure to tell amounts to negligence. This paper examines how Indian courts have handled medical negligence and informed consent, using the leading decisions of the Supreme Court of India and a short comparison with the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. It is observed that the quality of treatment is still measured mainly by the Bolam test, while the adequacy of disclosure is judged, at least in principle, from the patient’s point of view. The two standards sit uneasily together, and the resulting uncertainty affects doctors and patients alike. The paper argues that consent in hospital practice risks being reduced to paperwork, that language and literacy barriers receive little legal attention, and that the law on emergencies and on patients who cannot decide for themselves remains incomplete. Suggestions are made on codification, the process of consent, protection for doctors and oversight.
Keywords	Informed Consent, Medical Negligence, Standard of Care, Bolam Test, Patient Autonomy, Indian Law
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On	2026-10-19

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