{"id":105612,"date":"2024-05-01T19:21:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T13:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/?post_type=current-affairs&#038;p=105612"},"modified":"2024-05-01T19:21:02","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T13:51:02","slug":"eggshell-skull-rule","status":"publish","type":"current-affairs","link":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/current-affairs\/eggshell-skull-rule","title":{"rendered":"Eggshell Skull Principle"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">Context:<\/span> <\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court has<\/span><b> rejected the application of the eggshell skull rule <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and restored compensation of Rs 5 lakhs awarded by the district consumer forum in a medical negligence case.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>What is the \u2018eggshell skull\u2019 rule?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a common<\/span><b> law principle applied in civil litigation.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Meaning:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It is applied when the offender would be liable for all injuries that might be intensified due to the pre existing conditions of the injured person that the offender might be unaware of.\u00a0 The frailty of the person cannot be used as a defense to escape liability.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rule is applied for<\/span><b> claiming an enhanced compensation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for damage that is more than what could have been usually anticipated to be caused by the defendant.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Origin: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0In the case of <\/span><b>Vosburg v. Putney (1890),<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the concept of eggshell skull rule was developed for the first time<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Explained with an example:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Imagine a\u00a0 person with an extremely thin skull, as fragile as an eggshell, even though the person looks completely normal. This person is hit in the head by someone else unaware of the delicate nature of the person&#8217;s head. A normal person would have been a little injured , but the person with the eggshell skull dies.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>As per the eggshell skull rule: T<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">he person who hit the eggshell skulled person will be <\/span><b>responsible for the extreme consequences <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the person has suffered and not just the amount of harm a normal person would have suffered. <\/span><b>It is often also called the thin skull rule.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>The present Case:<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was a <\/span><b>case of medical negligence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> whereby a 2.5 cm foreign body (needle) was left behind in the patient&#8217;s abdomen when she had her appendix removed in a hospital in Himachal Pradesh\u2019s Mandi district in 2005.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>district consumer forum awarded Rs 5 lakhs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to the patient for medical negligence by the hospital.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Appeal: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The state consumer forum reduced the compensation to Rs 1 lakh on an appeal by the hospital, which was enhanced it to Rs 2 lakh by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) while applying the eggshell skull rule.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>The Supreme Court:<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It <\/span><b>restored the district forum\u2019s decision<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on compensation stating 2 reasons for enhancing the compensation i.e. the patient had suffered pain for more than 5 years and the case took more than a decade to be decided.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Rejected the Eggshell Rule: I<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">t would not apply in this case because there is no pre-existing vulnerability or medical condition, which got exacerbated by the negligence, because of which the victim may have suffered unusual damage<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"width: 100.1%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; background-color: #b8a5d987;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Medical Negligence:\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is simply the <\/span><b>failure to exercise due care and occurs when a doctor fails to perform to the standards of his or her profession. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The three ingredients of negligence are as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400; color: #000000;\">The defendant owes a duty of care to the plaintiff.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400; color: #000000;\">The defendant has breached this duty of care.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400; color: #000000;\">The plaintiff has suffered an injury due to this breach.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Is Medical Negligence covered under Consumer Protection Act<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Yes in 1995, the Supreme Court brought the medical profession under the Consumer Protection Act 1986 and medical treatments were labeled as services.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Rights available to a patient:\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Right to Information: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patients have the right to be told about their illness and have their medical records explained and also about the treatment\/medicines prescribed to them and should be made aware of any risks and side effects.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Right to privacy: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patients have the right to maintain confidentiality regarding their illness and can expect the same from the doctors.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Right to second opinion: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Patients have the right to a second opinion if they are doubtful about the medicines or treatment suggested<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Informed Consent: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0If he\/she is unconscious or unable to make the decision due to other reasons, informed consent needs to be taken from their nearest relatives.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><b>Additional Reading:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/ncdrc-powers-functions\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: The Supreme Court has rejected the application of the eggshell skull rule and restored compensation of Rs 5 lakhs awarded by the district consumer forum in a medical negligence case. What is the \u2018eggshell skull\u2019 rule? It is a common law principle applied in civil litigation. Meaning: It is applied when the offender would&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/current-affairs\/eggshell-skull-rule\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Eggshell Skull Principle<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"paper-wise":[2084],"subject":[2124],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs\/105612"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/current-affairs"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105612"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs\/105612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105616,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs\/105612\/revisions\/105616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105612"},{"taxonomy":"paper-wise","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper-wise?post=105612"},{"taxonomy":"subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subject?post=105612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}