Knowledge about Medical Law and Its Negligence among Doctors: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To assess the knowledge of health care professionals regarding medico-legal aspects and its negligence. Materials and Methods: This descriptive epidemiological study was conducted among two specialties of health professionals. The total study sample composed of 123 doctors out of which 68 were males and 55 were females. A self structured questionnaire was developed to assess the awareness of consumer protection art (CPA) and whether these professionals were following the medico-legal aspects. The SPSS software was applied for data analysis & student’s t-test ANOVA test were used as tests of significance. Results: It was found that most of the participants (79.2%) were aware about the code of medical ethics. Male doctors had more knowledge compared to about medical law and its negligence than females. Where as, regarding the specialty General surgeons were slightly more aware than Gynecologist. A significant difference was observed according to the experiences of the participants. Conclusion: Even though the medical practitioners were knowledgeable about medical legal-aspects and informed consent but when it came to actual objectives of consumer protection act their knowledge was satisfactory.