Case Law: No Cure/ No Success Is Not Negligence, Says Ncdrc; Sets Aside Rs 15l Liability On Doctor For Ivf Failure

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) taking note of the judicial notice of the fact that increasing number of people are opting for in-vitro fertilization due to growing problem of infertility while acknowledging that its failure cannot be attributed to the treating doctor given the complexity of procedure and medically recorded evidence of low success rate in women above 35 years of age held that no cure/ no success is not negligence and fastening the liability on the treating doctor is not justified while setting aside the order of the State Commission by which a doctor was asked to pay Rs 15 lakh compensation to her client after the IVF in her case failed.

In the present case, the treating doctor adopted the standard method of IVF. The patient was properly investigated and given proper medicines for retrieval of eggs (ova) prior to IVF. Also SST was performed for her husband. The Court observed that in any given cycle, the chance of IVF success varies, depending on the age and the personal health circumstances and hence did not find any deficiency or lapses in the duty of care on the part of OP.