THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Government Specialist Doctors Association (KGSDA) has come out against the arrest of a medical consultant with the Government Taluk Hospital at Thamarassery for allegedly accepting a bribe from a man for conducting laparoscopic sterilisation on his wife.
KGDSA president Dr Sunjith Ravi said the doctor, who had served in remote areas like Wayanad for several years, was allegedly trapped. The doctor was engaged in private practice at the time scheduled for it. He was not engaged in private practice during OP timings. Moreover, the patient was not one who was admitted to the hospital but was one who visited him privately, he added.
Ravi said the doctor was one who had conducted surgery at a time when the KGMOA had been on an indefinite strike. The doctor was working at a centre where there was no anaesthetist. He was performing lapro with his own instrument that costs more than Rs 10 lakh, he said.
Demanding the government to revise the guidelines for private practice, the KGSDA said the government should desist from harassing doctors. The VACB officials Monday arrested the medical consultant for allegedly demanding and accepting the bribe of Rs 2,000.
According to officials, the couple had visited the doctor at the hospital on January 18 to know about the procedures for laparoscopic sterilisation. Apart from the consultation fee of Rs 200, the doctor demanded a bribe of Rs 2,000 to perform the surgery.
The couple informed this to the VACB officials. As suggested by Vigilance sleuths, he handed over chemically treated currency notes to the doctor Monday.