Protecting the country’s medical practitioners
A scuffle between a PG doctor and the relatives of an expectant mother that broke out last week on the premises of a Tamil Nadu government hospital has put the focus again on the safety of medical practitioners. The assault, reminiscent of the West Bengal incident where two doctors were manhandled by the relatives of a deceased patient in June last, was the fallout of the PG doctor advising the visitors to remove their slippers before entering a sterile ward. The incident raises two pertinent questions. First, are the existing laws on workplace security for medical professionals adequate? Second, should there be a Central legislation?
The answer to the first question lies in the study released by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in 2017, which claims 75% of doctors faced workplace harassment at the hands of patients’ relatives. This is an indictment of how state laws have been powerless in protecting medical professionals. The IMA claims state-specific laws seldom serve the purpose as lack of awareness among law enforcement agencies scuttles the entire process of seeking redress or protection. This brings us to the second question. Apart from the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique Act, 1994, the Centre has always refrained from enacting laws on health as the subject falls under the state list. So there is no uniformity of conception and implementation of law in the case of medical professionals and establishments.
Given the rise in violence, doctors have been increasingly favouring ‘defensive treatment’ protocols, which entail unnecessary diagnostic tests, to protect themselves if things go awry. This has led to an escalation in treatment costs. While courts in India have held that perceived negligence has to stand the scrutiny of the Bolam Test (a landmark 1957 US case on the scope of medical negligence), the threat on the ground inhibits doctors from administering care in good faith. In a nation grappling with spiraling medical costs and a dearth of medical professionals, letting emotions run riot would prove detrimental to progress.