Members of the Udupi-Karavali unit of the India Medical Association (IMA) staged a silent dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, seeking fulfilment of various demands.
In a memorandum submitted at the DC’s office, Y. Sudharshan Rao, vice-president of unit, said there have been many attacks on doctors and medical establishments across the country on insubstantial charges. During such attacks, anti-social elements, nursing previous grudges against the hospital, perpetuate vandalism, and thus it is essential that the government enacts a law to protect the helpless patients, medical and paramedical staff, he said.
Instead of scrapping the Medical Council of India, the government should withdraw the draft National Medical Commission Bill, 2016. This Bill is undemocratic and does not represent the medical fraternity, he said, adding that its aim is to “usurp everything related to the medical profession”, subverting the self-regulatory status provided to the profession by law.
Instead, MCI should be made an elected body of medical professionals with a handful of nominated members. IMA also wants the present Consumer Protection Act to cap the maximum allowable compensation in any case of medical negligence. Their stand is that there should be mandatory screening of cases of medical negligence before the case is admitted in a consumer court. Another IMA demand is that the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, which bans pre-conception and pre-natal sex determination, be amended. The Act should ban only obstetric ultrasound and not other applications of ultrasonography, they say.
The government should not allow practitioners of other medical systems to practise modern medicine through bridge courses and government orders, the memorandum said.
Owing to the dharna, all outpatient services in private hospitals and clinics under IMA were closed. However, emergency services functioned as usual.
