CHENNAI: Doctors should treat all patients without discrimination and healthcare should meet the requirements of each and every person, Madras High Court judge Satish K Agnihotri said here on Saturday.
He was speaking at a seminar on Right to Health - Law and Ethics, organised by Commonwealth Legal Association (Asia-India) jointly with Sri Ramachandra University.
Sharing his thoughts on medical ethics, Justice Agnihotri referring to a news report published on February 4 in The New Indian Express titled “Is Teaching Overtaking Treatment as New Cool in Med School Ethics?” said, “I read a report in an English paper, The New Indian Express that said a 13-year-old boy admitted to a private hospital with complaints of snoring and shortness of breath and how he was disturbed when medical students repeatedly put fingers inside his mouth and frequented questions.” What the hospital did was against medical ethics, he said. “Hospitals cannot treat a patient like that without his consent. Following moral principles are more important for any medical practitioner,” he observed. At that private hospital in Kattankulathur, the boy’s mother was told that he would require surgery to deal with his adenoid and would have to be admitted immediately. The shocked parents got their son discharged immediately and are seeking surgical assistance elsewhere.
