CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Medical Council (TNMC) has warned doctors not to hold press meetings on the completion of any surgery and disclose patients' identities to the media or face action, said Dr K Senthil, president of TNMC, on Friday.
In the past year, show cause notices were issued to five doctors in the State for violating provisions of the Tamil Nadu Medical Registration Act, 1914 and the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. "Doctors should not reveal the name and identity of patients. But, many hospitals, including private and government hospitals, have been repeatedly doing this.
This will be considered an advertisement for the doctors who performed the surgery. The hospital can inform the press that such a surgery was performed without giving out any details of the patient. But the surgeons sitting and giving interviews will be viewed seriously," said Dr Senthil, addressing the media.
Dr Senthil added that names and photographs of doctors should not be published in any mobile applications. The websites of private hospitals should not have any details about doctors' work. They can only mention names and certifications.
To curb patients ending up with quacks, the TNMC will launch Doctor Search, a mobile application. It will be helpful for those who are travelling as well. Patients can search the doctors using the pincode of the area they are in and also search according to their medical needs, he added.
The Tamil Nadu Medical Council will also launch two other apps, digital records software and a certificate app. The former will be helpful for doctors to save the medical records of the patients for up to five years. This will help them retrieve the records, Dr Senthil said.
The certificate application will allow the doctors to save the medical certificates, which are issued to claim permission for leave at work, educational institutions and in court appearances for people. The applications will be launched on Sunday. The Tamil Nadu Medical Council also announced Tamil Nadu Medical Council Award-2022 for doctors.