New Delhi, Sept. 14 -- The Supreme Court has put a final judicial seal on the liability of doctors and hospitals under consumer protection law, as it dismissed a curative petition challenging its landmark 1995 ruling that had brought medical services within the ambit of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA). A five-judge bench of justices Vikram Nath, BV Nagarathna, MM Sundresh, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan dismissed the curative petition filed by Dr Rajeev D Joshi of the Medico Legal Society of India, holding that no case was made out within the parameters laid down for entertaining a curative petition. The brief order, passed on September 9, effectively closes the latest challenge to the 1995 judgment in Indian Medical Association Vs VP Shantha, under which patients can approach consumer forums against doctors and hospitals for deficiency in medical services. "We have gone through the curative petition and the relevant documents. In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated" in the Supreme Court's 2002 judgment in Rupa Ashok Hurra Vs Ashok Hurra, the bench said, dismissing the plea.P5...