BENGALURU: The Central government’s plan to drop medical services from the Consumer Protection Act has been welcomed by doctors.
The long-pending demand of the medical community which will be fulfilled as an amendment is likely to be moved in the Parliament soon. On Sunday, BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy tweeted, “Namo Cabinet has decided to drop medical services from the Consumer Protection Act. An amendment will shortly be moved in Parliament. My thanks to Namo & Paswan for the decision”(SIC).
Welcoming the move, former president of the Indian Medical Association’s Karnataka branch, Dr Nagrendra Swamy SC said that it was a good move by the Union government.
“It was our long-pending demand. Medical services cannot be seen from a socialistic manner as the profession has its own risks and challenges. I agree that there should be a grievance redressal forum in each sector. By this move, patients won’t be affected as they still have enough avenues to approach seeking redressal. Disputes in medical field should be handled at professional fora,” he opined.
However, Dr R Ravindra, president of Private Hospitals & Nursing Homes Association, said, “Due to the inclusion of medical services under the Act, the number of litigation is increasing. It has to be dropped from the Act. Our demands also include capping of the compensation,” he added.