Medical Negligence
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 18, 2013 -
"Doctors themselves are responsible for erosion of public faith.” It is not we, who are saying this, but Dr Sudarshan Ballal, a veteran Nephrologist as well as the Medical Director and Chairman of India’s third largest healthcare company, Mahipal Health Enterprises (Manipal Hospitals).
In an interview with Daily News and Analysis (DNA) India recently, Dr Sudarshan Ballal observed that public faith in medical professionals has significantly eroded and that the medical fraternity is itself responsible for this situation. When the interviewer asked about corruption which seems to have seeped into the noble profession, Dr Ballal candidly stated that what the doctors are these days is the reflection of the society we live in.
With corruption everywhere today and money becoming such a ruling factor in the modern life, corruption is bound to be there is the doctor’s community as well.
“We are in an extremely noble profession and we don’t want to see corruption here, but unfortunately, the presence of it is there”, he admitted. Replying to another question on the instances of wrong diagnosis, treatment or surgery, etc by the doctors, Dr Ballal said, “I am sure there is truth to this, and I would lie if I say there is nothing like this. But as far as possible, the hospitals should follow honest and ethical practices of medicine....and it is our fundamental responsibility to ensure fair and honest practice.”
We have taken out these excerpts rather generously to drive home the point that medical profession is becoming not so noble as well in Manipur today with allegations of negligence by attending doctors leading to death of many patients coming up every now and then, which sometimes resulted in ugly confrontation between the doctors/hospital authorities and the irate patient’s party.
In the latest such allegation of medical negligence, a 25-year old woman, who underwent caesarean operation for the first time, died after six days of being discharged from RIMS following infection as the operated wounds were not stitched properly.
The incident has come even as the case over the death of another young woman earlier during delivery case in the same hospital is yet to be settled, despite the announcement of the hospital authority to conduct an inquiry into the matter, which unfortunately has come to naught.
We understand that doctors are not god and to err is human, but death of patients from medical negligence is something unpardonable.
Moreover, unlike in western countries where there are strict legal provisions on whose basis a patient who suffers injury or damage due to negligence of their doctors has the right to sue that medical practitioner, patients enjoy no such legal protections in our poor State.
In such a situation, hospital authorities have a greater role to play in restoring the eroding faith of the people by owning up the responsibility of their employees’ negligence and ensuring that similar unfortunate instances of medical negligence are not repeated.
But this could be possible only when inquiries over medical negligence are conducted promptly instead of trying to shield the negligent doctors.
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