An unconscious 30-year-old man is brought to casualty after a road crash. CT shows a large, enlarging extradural haematoma. No relatives or friends can be traced, and the neurosurgeon decides to operate at once. What is the legal position on consent?

Emergency surgery in good faith is protected without consent

Surgery must wait for a magistrate's permission

The hospital superintendent's consent is mandatory

Surgery must wait until the police give consent

A 58-year-old man dies after a post-operative bleed that the duty doctor in a private hospital failed to detect for several hours. His son files a police complaint against the doctor. For the doctor to be held criminally liable for the death, what must be shown?

Gross negligence or recklessness on his part

A poor outcome after his treatment

An error of judgment in a difficult case

Any departure from the best possible practice

A general practitioner in Lucknow receives a fixed percentage of the bill from a diagnostic centre for every patient he sends there for scans. He says the scans were needed in every case. How is his conduct regarded under the medical ethics regulations?

Professional misconduct, as a commission

A civil wrong only, not misconduct

Acceptable, as the scans were needed

Acceptable, if patients are told later

A 38-year-old bus driver of the state transport corporation has had two generalised seizures in a month, and his EEG is abnormal. He refuses to tell his employer and plans to drive his usual route next week. Counselling has failed. What should his doctor do?

Inform the employer, as a privileged communication

Write to the passengers' association

Inform the police and ask for his arrest

Keep silent, since confidentiality is absolute

Medical ethics, consent, negligence and the NMC code

16 NEET-PG practice questions on Medical ethics, consent, negligence and the NMC code, part of Forensic Medicine. The first 16 are below; the first 5 with answers and explanations (tap Show answer after you have chosen), the rest in Learn with a free account.

Question 1 · Medium
An unconscious 30-year-old man is brought to casualty after a road crash. CT shows a large, enlarging extradural haematoma. No relatives or friends can be traced, and the neurosurgeon decides to operate at once. What is the legal position on consent?
1. ASurgery must wait for a magistrate's permission
2. BThe hospital superintendent's consent is mandatory
3. CSurgery must wait until the police give consent
4. DEmergency surgery in good faith is protected without consent
Show answerHide answer
Answer: D · Emergency surgery in good faith is protected without consent
In an emergency, when the patient cannot consent and no guardian can be reached in time, a doctor may act without consent, in good faith, for the patient's benefit. Indian criminal law protects such acts (the good-faith exception formerly in Section 92 IPC, carried into the BNS). In Parmanand Katara v Union of India (1989), the Supreme Court held that every doctor must give immediate aid to an injured person without waiting for police formalities. The notes should record the emergency, the attempts to reach relatives and the reasons for operating.
- A: No magistrate's permission is needed for emergency treatment.
- B: Administrative approval is not a legal requirement for emergency surgery.
- C: The police cannot consent for a patient, and the delay could cost his life.
Question 2 · Easy
A 42-year-old woman has had pelvic pain since a hysterectomy at a private nursing home eight months ago. A CT scan shows the radio-opaque marker of a surgical sponge in her pelvis. In her complaint of negligence, which doctrine relieves her of proving exactly how the error happened?
1. AVolenti non fit injuria
2. BNovus actus interveniens
3. CRespondeat superior
4. DRes ipsa loquitur
Show answerHide answer
Answer: D · Res ipsa loquitur
Res ipsa loquitur, 'the thing speaks for itself', applies when the injury would not ordinarily happen without negligence, the cause was under the defendant's control, and the patient did not contribute to it. A sponge left in the abdomen is the classic example, along with surgery on the wrong side or the wrong patient. The burden then shifts to the doctor or hospital to explain the event. Sponge and instrument counts at closure, with radio-opaque sponges, prevent this error.
- A: Volenti non fit injuria is a defence based on the patient accepting a known risk.
- B: Novus actus interveniens is a new intervening act that breaks the chain of causation.
- C: Respondeat superior makes an employer liable for an employee; it does not remove the need for proof.
Question 3 · Medium
A 58-year-old man dies after a post-operative bleed that the duty doctor in a private hospital failed to detect for several hours. His son files a police complaint against the doctor. For the doctor to be held criminally liable for the death, what must be shown?
1. AGross negligence or recklessness on his part
2. BA poor outcome after his treatment
3. CAn error of judgment in a difficult case
4. DAny departure from the best possible practice
Show answerHide answer
Answer: A · Gross negligence or recklessness on his part
In Jacob Mathew v State of Punjab (2005), the Supreme Court held that criminal liability of a doctor for a patient's death needs negligence of a high degree, gross negligence or recklessness, not the simple lack of care that is enough for civil liability. A private criminal complaint against a doctor should be supported by the credible opinion of another competent doctor, and doctors should not be arrested as a matter of routine. A poor outcome or an honest error of judgment is not negligence by itself. Civil liability uses the lower standard of a reasonably competent doctor (the Bolam test).
- B: A bad outcome alone does not prove negligence.
- C: An honest error of judgment within accepted practice is not negligence, let alone criminal negligence.
- D: The standard is reasonable care, not the best possible practice.
Question 4 · Medium
A general practitioner in Lucknow receives a fixed percentage of the bill from a diagnostic centre for every patient he sends there for scans. He says the scans were needed in every case. How is his conduct regarded under the medical ethics regulations?
1. AProfessional misconduct, as a commission
2. BA civil wrong only, not misconduct
3. CAcceptable, as the scans were needed
4. DAcceptable, if patients are told later
Show answerHide answer
Answer: A · Professional misconduct, as a commission
Giving or receiving a commission, rebate or gift for referring patients (fee-splitting) is professional misconduct under the IMC Professional Conduct Regulations, 2002, whether or not the referral was clinically justified. It gives a financial motive to order tests and erodes patients' trust. The State Medical Council can warn the doctor or remove his name from the register for a period or permanently. Referrals must rest on clinical need alone.
- B: It is a specific form of professional misconduct, punishable by the medical council.
- C: Clinical need does not make a referral commission acceptable.
- D: Telling patients afterwards does not make fee-splitting ethical.
Question 5 · Medium
A 38-year-old bus driver of the state transport corporation has had two generalised seizures in a month, and his EEG is abnormal. He refuses to tell his employer and plans to drive his usual route next week. Counselling has failed. What should his doctor do?
1. AInform the employer, as a privileged communication
2. BWrite to the passengers' association
3. CInform the police and ask for his arrest
4. DKeep silent, since confidentiality is absolute
Show answerHide answer
Answer: A · Inform the employer, as a privileged communication
Privileged communication is a statement made in good faith by a doctor to a person or authority with a corresponding legal, social or moral duty to receive it, in order to protect others. A driver with uncontrolled seizures endangers the public, so the doctor may inform the employer after trying to persuade the patient himself. The disclosure is limited to what is needed, made only to the proper authority, and recorded in the notes. It is protected because it is made without malice and in the public interest.
- B: Passengers' groups have no duty to act on it, so telling them is an unjustified disclosure.
- C: Arrest has no place for a medical condition; the employer controls his driving duties.
- D: Confidentiality yields when silence puts identifiable others at serious risk.
Question 6 · Medium
A 33-year-old woman's chest X-ray report noting a nodule is filed without the doctor reading it. Two months later the nodule is reviewed, found to be a benign hamartoma, and needs no treatment. She files a complaint of negligence. Why will her claim most likely fail?
1. AMissing a report is not a breach of duty
2. BShe did not obtain an expert's opinion
3. CShe suffered no damage from the lapse
4. DThe doctor owed her no duty of care
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 7 · Hard
A 45-year-old woman dies on the operating table in a district hospital after a resident anaesthetist mixes up the oxygen and nitrous oxide cylinders on the anaesthesia machine. An expert committee finds gross negligence. Under which provision of the BNS, and with what maximum imprisonment, can the doctor be tried?
1. ASection 105; up to 10 years and fine
2. BSection 106(2); up to 10 years and fine
3. CSection 106(1); up to 2 years and fine
4. DSection 106(1); up to 5 years and fine
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 8 · Hard
A 35-year-old woman signs consent for a diagnostic laparoscopy for chronic pelvic pain. Under anaesthesia the surgeon finds severe endometriosis with chocolate cysts in both ovaries. A postgraduate discussing the case lists four statements: 1. Her consent for the diagnostic procedure does not cover removing her uterus and ovaries now. 2. Her husband's consent, taken in the waiting room, is enough to proceed. 3. A form signed for 'any procedure the surgeon thinks fit' would not make such removal valid. 4. Extending surgery without fresh consent is justified only to save life or prevent serious immediate harm. Which statements are correct?
1. A1 and 4 only
2. B3 and 4 only
3. C1, 2 and 3 only
4. D1, 3 and 4 only
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 9 · Medium
A 29-year-old man diagnosed HIV-positive at an ICTC says he will marry next month and refuses to tell his fiancée. Repeated counselling has not changed his mind. Which course is consistent with the Supreme Court's ruling in Mr X v Hospital Z?
1. ADisclose his status to her to protect her health
2. BInform her parents and the local panchayat
3. CTell her only after the marriage has taken place
4. DKeep silent; his right to privacy is absolute
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 10 · Medium
In a corporate hospital, a staff nurse gives concentrated potassium chloride as an undiluted IV bolus instead of an infusion, and the patient dies. The family sues the hospital as well as the nurse. On what basis is the hospital liable for her act?
1. AVicarious liability for its employee
2. BNovus actus interveniens by the nurse
3. CContributory negligence of the patient
4. DRes ipsa loquitur for its premises
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 11 · Hard
A 50-year-old farmer is operated on, free of charge, at a government district hospital where every patient is treated free. He alleges negligence and wants to file a complaint before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. What is the likely outcome of the complaint?
1. AMaintainable, as every medical service is covered
2. BNot maintainable; only a criminal case is possible
3. CNot maintainable; he may file a civil suit instead
4. DMaintainable, as the State pays the surgeon's salary
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 12 · Medium
A 25-year-old man with a fractured tibia in an above-knee cast is told in writing to return at once if his toes become swollen, blue or numb. These signs appear on the second day, but he waits four days before returning, by which time there is ischaemic damage. In his suit against the orthopaedic surgeon, which defence is available?
1. ATherapeutic privilege
2. BRes ipsa loquitur
3. CVicarious liability
4. DContributory negligence
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 13 · Easy
A 60-year-old man discharged after a coronary angioplasty from a private hospital in Pune asks the hospital in writing for copies of his indoor case records, to get a second opinion. Under the IMC (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, within what time must the copies be given?
1. AWithin 15 days
2. BWithin 72 hours
3. CWithin 30 days
4. DWithin 7 days
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 14 · Medium
A woman in Thiruvananthapuram complains that her doctor examined her intimately without a chaperone and made improper remarks. She wishes to complain of professional misconduct. Under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which body hears the complaint first?
1. AThe State Medical Council
2. BThe National Medical Commission itself
3. CThe District Consumer Commission
4. DThe Ethics and Medical Registration Board
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 15 · Medium
The family of a 78-year-old man in a persistent vegetative state for two years after a massive stroke asks the ICU team in Delhi to withdraw his ventilator. He had signed a living will before his illness. The ICU registrar notes four points: 1. A lethal injection at the family's request would be lawful if a medical board approves. 2. The Supreme Court recognised advance directives and passive euthanasia in Common Cause v Union of India (2018). 3. His living will cannot be acted on because he is unable to confirm it now. 4. Withdrawal of life support follows review by medical boards as laid down by the Supreme Court. Which points are correct?
1. A2, 3 and 4 only
2. B2 and 4 only
3. C1 and 2 only
4. D1, 2 and 4 only
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 16 · Easy
In a crowded medicine OPD, a 45-year-old man is told that his blood pressure will be checked. Without saying anything, he rolls up his sleeve and holds out his arm. What type of consent has he given?
1. AExpress oral consent
2. BImplied consent
3. CPresumed emergency consent
4. DInformed written consent
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account

Medical ethics, consent, negligence and the NMC code

An unconscious 30-year-old man is brought to casualty after a road crash. CT shows a large, enlarging extradural haematoma. No relatives or friends can be traced, and the neurosurgeon decides to operate at once. What is the legal position on consent?

A 42-year-old woman has had pelvic pain since a hysterectomy at a private nursing home eight months ago. A CT scan shows the radio-opaque marker of a surgical sponge in her pelvis. In her complaint of negligence, which doctrine relieves her of proving exactly how the error happened?

A 58-year-old man dies after a post-operative bleed that the duty doctor in a private hospital failed to detect for several hours. His son files a police complaint against the doctor. For the doctor to be held criminally liable for the death, what must be shown?

A general practitioner in Lucknow receives a fixed percentage of the bill from a diagnostic centre for every patient he sends there for scans. He says the scans were needed in every case. How is his conduct regarded under the medical ethics regulations?

A 38-year-old bus driver of the state transport corporation has had two generalised seizures in a month, and his EEG is abnormal. He refuses to tell his employer and plans to drive his usual route next week. Counselling has failed. What should his doctor do?

A 33-year-old woman's chest X-ray report noting a nodule is filed without the doctor reading it. Two months later the nodule is reviewed, found to be a benign hamartoma, and needs no treatment. She files a complaint of negligence. Why will her claim most likely fail?

A 29-year-old man diagnosed HIV-positive at an ICTC says he will marry next month and refuses to tell his fiancée. Repeated counselling has not changed his mind. Which course is consistent with the Supreme Court's ruling in Mr X v Hospital Z?

In a corporate hospital, a staff nurse gives concentrated potassium chloride as an undiluted IV bolus instead of an infusion, and the patient dies. The family sues the hospital as well as the nurse. On what basis is the hospital liable for her act?

A 50-year-old farmer is operated on, free of charge, at a government district hospital where every patient is treated free. He alleges negligence and wants to file a complaint before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. What is the likely outcome of the complaint?

A woman in Thiruvananthapuram complains that her doctor examined her intimately without a chaperone and made improper remarks. She wishes to complain of professional misconduct. Under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which body hears the complaint first?

In a crowded medicine OPD, a 45-year-old man is told that his blood pressure will be checked. Without saying anything, he rolls up his sleeve and holds out his arm. What type of consent has he given?