Does the negligent or rash act of a doctor which causes the death
of his patient immediately, comes within the parameters of an accident?
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission (NCDRC) in Life Insurance Corporation of India Vs
Narender Singh26 observed:
Death of a patient due to rash and negligent act
of a doctor is an accident, making the victim entitled to the accidental death
benefits from his or her insurer. The LIC was ordered to pay the accidental
death benefits to the husband of the insured, who had died while being operated
upon. The NCDRC held “..the injury to the life assured was an accident caused
by outward, violent and visible means and therefore, the Life Insurance
Corporation of India cannot be absolved from its liability to pay the
accidental benefits to the complainant”.
The LIC had denied the accidental benefits to
the complainant saying his wife death during the surgery was not an accident.
Prepared
by: S. Hemanth
Advocate
at Hemanth
& Associates
