Lets Face This To Err is Human.

But in the field of medical diagnostics there is very little or no room for error. We have seen consumer courts fining lakhs or in some instances even crores of rupees in cases where some or the other anomaly is missed by radiologists.

In Indian scenario where the income of most of the radiologists (except a few) is hardly 1-2 lac per month and when one of these radiologists is fined 80 lacs or even 1 crore for missing an anomaly it sends the cold shiver down the spines of all the other radiologists.

One such interesting case occurred in Delhi  Patparganj where a radiologist was sued for failing to diagnose microcephaly on antenatal ultrasound scan and family demanded 40 lacs as compensation.

Delhi state consumer redressal commission however referred to the literature given on website of world health organisation which read like below

‘Early diagnosis of microcephaly can sometimes be made by fetal ultrasound. Ultrasounds have the best diagnosis possibility if they are made at the end of the second trimester, around 28 weeks, or in the third trimester of pregnancy. Often diagnosis is made at birth or at a later stage.’

Referring to above literature the Delhi state consumer redressal commission rules that its not always possible to diagnose microcephaly on antenatal diagnosis and the diagnosis is often made in postnatal period.

Read the judgement of Hon. Delhi state consumer redressal commission 

Refer to literature on antenatal diagnosis of microcephaly on WHO website