If ethics should be practised by doctors then it should be learnt by example by juniors from their seniors, said nephrologist M.K. Mani, who was honoured with the Dr. K.V. Thiruvengadam award on Thursday.
In his acceptance speech, Dr. Mani touched upon various issues pertaining to renal failure and transplant. Though unrelated donor transplant was being advanced as an option he said it was immoral to make a donor sacrifice a vital organ for a pittance.
He believed doctors did not think through the various facets of the issue when a patient came for treatment.
He felt doctors should also think about the donor instead of just the patient. Recalling an instance when a patient wanted him to falsify an insurance document to enable him benefit from the scheme, Dr. Mani said that agreeing to falsify a document would harm the entire society as the insurance company would only increase the premium of all other customers, he pointed out.
Dr. Mani further said, young doctors look for role models. If senior doctors and teachers could lead by example then the youngsters would imbibe ethics.
Dr. Thiruvengadam said Dr. Mani was a man of confidence, character and compassion, who observed ethics to the very last word.
B.S. Purushothaman, president of the Club, who presented the award, said it was the uprightness of doctors such as Dr. Mani that had brought back other doctors from abroad to India to set up practice.
