Medical council draws flak for sitting on ethics issue

September 20, 2016 12:00 am | Updated November 01, 2016 07:44 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram:

Complaint against doctors advertising for a hospital

Babu K.V., a medical professional and a ‘whistle-blower,’ has written to Health Minister K.K. Shylaja seeking action against the Travancore Cochin Medical Council (TCMC) for the council’s inaction over the past three years in a complaint he had filed against certain doctors who had violated the provisions of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, by advertising themselves.

Dr. Babu had in December 2013 put up a complaint before the TCMC seeking action against four doctors whose pictures and professional achievements had been highlighted in the advertisement of a prominent Kochi hospital in newspapers. He pointed out that the doctors were violating the MCI’s Code of Ethics (clause 7.11) by advertising for the hospital. He also pointed out that there was the precedent of the MCI taking action against two doctors in Haryana in 2013 itself by removing their names from the Indian Medical Register and the State Medical Register for 15 days for using their names and photographs to advertise for a hospital.

The term of the members of the current State Council ends in November. Yet, the TCMC had done nothing about the complaint he had filed three years ago, Dr. Babu said.

“The MCI’s Code of Ethics, clause 8.4, says the State council should take a decision on the complaint against a physician within six months. Despite several communications in these last three years the TCMC has not even given me a reply regarding the complaint I filed. The government should check with the council how many complaints against physicians they have received from patients in these past five years and whether they had taken any action in these complaints,” he told The Hindu .

‘No intervention’

B. Ekbal, neurosurgeon and public health activist and member, State Planning Board, said the TCMC had never intervened to uphold ethical practices in medical profession. Despite several attempts, TCMC president Rani Nayar was unavailable for comment.

Babu K.V. writes to Health Minister seeking action against TCMC

Rules stipulate that decision on complaint should be taken in 6 months

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.