CASES OF MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE RISE AS VICTIMS AWAIT JUSTICE
‘From May 2017 to 30 November, the MCI has received 118 complaint appeals against doctors, out of which 103 cases are pending conclusion.’
Despite the rising number of cases of medical negligence, victims are struggling to get justice as the State Medical Councils (SMCs) and the Medical Council of India (MCI), the federal institutions assigned to perform the quasi-judicial role, have been unable to fix the responsibility of doctors for their negligence and unethical professional conduct.
A senior official of the MCI, the highest regulatory body for ensuring ethical practices of doctors across the country, said that complaints of medi- cal negligence have risen in recent times.
Reena Nayyar, secretaryin-charge of the MCI, said: “From May 2017 to 30 November, the MCI has received 118 complaint appeals against doctors, out of which 15 cases have been disposed and the rest of the cases are still pending a conclusion. Also, during the same time period, we received 80 fresh complaints, out of which the MCI has disposed nine cases. The rest of the cases were forwarded to the SMCs concerned for further action,” Nayyar told The Sunday Guardian.
Questioned on the mode of action taken against doc- tors, Nayyar said: “In many cases, the MCI has taken action ranging from cancelling licences or imposing monetary fine to recommending jail terms against doctors against whom complaints of negligence have been received.”
Incidents of medical negligence have shaken the nation in the past few months. Doctors at Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, erroneously declared a newborn dead recently. A baby boy was declared dead by Max Hospital on 30 November and handed over to the parents in a plastic bag, along with his still-born sister.
However, the baby started moving while being taken for burial. The baby was then admitted to a clinic in Pitampura, but died on Wednesday. The Delhi government cancelled the licence of Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, on Friday.
Recently, Gurgaon-based Fortis Hospital allegedly charged the parents of Adya Singh, a seven-year-old dengue patient, over Rs 15 lakh for 15 days of treatment. The child was declared dead when she was moved to another hospital in Dwarka. Shockingly, Adya was jabbed 40 syringes daily on an average for 14 days, which, accord- ing to an official of the Delhi Medical Council, is a medical record. Adya’s father Jayant Singh has already registered an FIR against the hospital and an investigation is on.
Nayyar admitted that due to the lack of staff and infrastructure crunch, victims usually suffer and justice gets delayed.
“Most of the complaints of unethical professional conduct are against doctors practising in private hospitals,” Nayyar added. According to the Delhi Medical Council (DMC), from January 2016 to November 2017, it has received 521 complaints against doctors, out of which, 195 complaints are still pending.
Commenting on recent incidents of medical negligence, medical experts have stressed on urgent reforms to regulate the country’s medical profession.
Amit Baweja, a private practitioner who also works with several high-profile hospitals in the city, said: “In order to avoid the rising incidents of medical negligence and misconduct of doctors, there is a need for reforms. The medical profession should be reformed like any other consumer goods sector. The regulatory authorities—MCI or SMCs—should be made more accountable.” The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has ordered the attachement of three acres of land belonging to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav at Saguna Mor in Patna as a part of its investigation in the money laundering probe into the IRCTC hotel allotment scam case. Agency sources have said the land was allegedly in the name of the family members of Lalu Prasad and a mall was supposed to be constructed there. The estimated market value of the plot is Rs 45 crore.
The property has been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had last week questioned Lalu Prasad’s wife and former Bihar Chief Minister, Rabri Devi.
She had repeatedly declined to come to Delhi for questioning, following which a team of ED sleuths were sent to Patna.
They reportedly questioned her for seven hours. The ED has already questioned Rabri Devi’s son Tejashwi Yadav, the former deputy chief minister of Bihar, twice in this case.In July, the agency had registered a case against Lalu Prasad, his family members and others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to the first information report lodged by the ED, Lalu favoured Sujata Hotels in awarding a contract for the up keeping of the IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri, and had received premium land near Saguna Mor under a “quid pro quo” deal in 2005 when he was the railways minister. Delight Marketing Pvt Ltd was rechristened as Lara Projects LLP in 2016.
Rabri and Tejashwi Yadav, her younger son and opposition leader in the Bihar legislative Assembly, are the two shareholders of the firm, holding 85% and 15% shares respectively.
It is alleged that both Delight Marketing Pvt and Lara Projects LLP are shell firms run by Lalu’s family. A multi-storied mall with provisions for a five-star hotel, multiplex, shopping complex, office tower and 1,000 shops was being developed. Earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered an FIR and conducted multiple searches on the properties of Lalu Prasad and others.