NEW DELHI: As many as 162 patients, who had approached the National Medical Commission (NMC) ethics board against the decision of the State Medical Councils (SMC) regarding complaints of medical negligence and misconduct against doctors, have been rejected in the past four-and-a-half years, an RTI has revealed.
This is despite NMC's landmark decision earlier this year, when it overturned its earlier verdict of rejecting patients' and their relatives' appeals to approach its Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB), which regulates professional conduct and promotes medical ethics in the country, for redressal of their complaints.
In an RTI reply, the NMC to a query from activist Dr K.V. Babu on the number of appeals of patients returned by EMRB from September 25, 2020, to the present, responded that it was 162.
To another query, on appeals filed by Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) against SMC decisions to EMRB during the same period, the number was 156.
However, to another question on the number of appeals filed by RMPs that EMRB rejected during the same period, the RTI reply, dated June 19, got the answer “nil.”
According to Kerala-based ophthalmologist Dr Babu, rejecting the appeals by EMRB against the SMC decisions from patients is a clear violation of the NMC Act 2019, and hence, it is illegal.
“The EMRB of the NMC has been continuing this illegal activity for over four years, and it is high time that they stopped it. It is time for the Union Health Ministry to step in and stop this illegality,” he told TNIE.
The approval to hear patients' appeals came in the NMC’s meeting on September 23, 2024. The NMC—an apex body that regulates medical education, medical professionals, and institutes—U-turn came after a year, as on August 23, 2023, notification permitted families and relatives to appeal against an erring medical professional. But it was not implemented.
According to the NMC Act 2019, medical professionals can appeal against SMC decisions under Section 30 (3) if they are found guilty of medical negligence. If the EMRB finds their act punishable, medical practitioners can make a second appeal under Section 30 (4) of the NMC Act.
But patients don't have that right despite clause 8.8 in the NMC Act, which was added on May 27, 2004, following the Supreme Court directions.
As per clause 8.8, any person aggrieved by the decision of the SMC on any complaint against a delinquent physician shall have the right to file an appeal to the MCI within 60 days from receipt of the order passed by the MCI.
However, the clause was removed when MCI was dissolved and NMC came into being. To rectify these lacunae, the Union Health Ministry decided to amend the NMC Act 2019 by inserting sections allowing patients to appeal. The proposal was published for comment on December 29, 2022, but it was not enacted—in clear violation of the patient's right.