There appears to be a deep-rooted desire in the hearts of the Administrators and even some organs of Legislature And Judiciary to put doctors in a position subordinate to them. This desire could have sprung from a wish to enjoy good health along with all the vices of good life, or it could simply be a tendency to have a control over their own health by holding the health-care provider by the neck. They could simply be grudging the power that a doctor holds over their body and mind by way of having superior and professional Knowledge and Skill.
Whatever it may be, they think that by springing such laws as CPA, Biomedical Waste disposal act, PCPNDT act and now The U.P. Private Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act 2009 at the medical profession they can put doctors in fear of them and exploit this fear to create an eternal stream of good health and vigour for their own use and for that of their relatives and friends. The first casualty of putting health services in subordination of the Bureaucrats has been the Government Health Services which are a mess. Now like a predator they have turned their attention to the Private Health Care Providers. The Planning Commission has warned time and again against bureaucratic interference in health services. Hon’ble Supreme Court in its recent judgement has observed “ It would not be conducive to the efficiency of the medical profession if no Doctor could administer medicine without a halter round his neck. …… It is our bounden duty and obligation of the civil society to ensure that the medical professionals are not unnecessary harassed or humiliated so that they can perform their professional duties without fear and apprehension………. It is imperative that the doctors must be able to perform their professional duties with free mind.”( CIVIL APPEAL NO.1385 OF2001 Kusum Sharma & Others .. Appellants Versus Batra Hospital & Medical Research Centre & Others). But the clause 64 of the U.P. Clinical est. Act does precisely that. It not only puts a gun to the doctors head it also goes beyond the sane limits of humanity and tries to extract a guarantee of life from the treating doctor (clause 60-62:Appropriate Transfer) Suffice it to show that passage of this bill would increase the woes not only of the health care providers but also of the common man. Therefore, the bill should be opposed at every step. I beg to state some points to oppose as under:- 1. Minimum Standards: A workman should be free to select his tools. 2. Emergency Medical care: A doctor cannot work under threat of prosecution. 3. Massive Penalties: The Doctors are not caged animals. Further that the doctors have been at the receiving end of endless cheating and extortion at the hands of certain unscrupulous professionals since time immemorial and that this bill seems to legalise it. Also that to help Medicine progress we must unanimously unite and stand against any attempts to make it a looters paradise. Long live I.M.A.
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Dr Amitabh ShrivastavaAuthor and creator of this web site,Hony. Secretary,IMA Branch Etawah. ArchivesCategories |