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ISLAMABAD: The medical tribunal has delivered two significant judgements redefining the legal standards governing professional negligence, expert medical evidence and disciplinary proceedings against registered medical practitioners.
The judgements, authored by medical tribunal chairman retired justice Safdar Saleem Shahid, while deciding the connected cross appeals arising from disciplinary proceedings before the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), articulated principles of general application extending beyond the facts of the individual dispute to formulate a comprehensive judicial framework governing professional negligence, expert evidence, procedural fairness and proportionality of disciplinary sanctions.
The rulings, both available with Dawn, are expected to influence future proceedings before the PMDC, constitutional litigation and civil claims involving allegations of medical negligence.
Rather than treating the appeals as a disagreement confined to one surgical procedure, the tribunal examined broader questions concerning the legal standards applicable whenever allegations of professional negligence are investigated by statutory regulatory bodies.
