Medical negligence cases in India hit record high
In 2025, India reported 65,000 medical negligence cases—much higher than earlier estimates.
These were filed across top courts and shared by Advocate Mahendra Bajpai at the MedLegal Review.
The numbers highlight growing concerns about patient safety and accountability in healthcare.
What's considered malpractice?
Claims aren't just about doctors making clinical mistakes anymore. More people are suing over paperwork errors, missing records, and admin slip-ups.
Courts now accept all sorts of evidence—from ICU charts to mobile videos and even audio pleas from elderly patients—to decide who's responsible.
Still, hospital admins can be held liable not only if they directly ignore a foreseeable risk but also if they directly authorize a wrongful act or fail in duties that cannot be delegated.
Key trends in the industry
Malpractice incidents have shot up to an average of 5.2 million a year, with litigation rising over 400%.
Unqualified "quacks" keep dodging the law by moving around, while doctors face charges for failing to report pregnancies in minors, though some proceedings were quashed when records showed the patient was an adult.
All this points to a real trust issue in healthcare—and shows how both patients and doctors are feeling the pressure.