In clinical practice, knowing when to treat and when to refer is a vital component of responsible care. Increasingly, delayed referral to a higher center has become a key factor in medical negligence rulings across Indian consumer courts. Timely referral is not just good clinical judgment; it’s a legal and ethical duty . Several judgments, including in the Kunal Saha vs.
AMRI Hospital case, have emphasized that failure to recognize complications or resource limitations and the resulting delay in referral can amount to negligence. The courts have clarified that a doctor is expected to act with reasonable foresight; continuing treatment despite signs of deterioration without escalation can be penalized as omission of duty. The National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines underscore the importance of referral when a case goes beyond the competence or infrastructure of the attending…
