Pointing out that right to get timely treatment from a qualified doctor is a fundamental right, the Madras High Court has said the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Tamil Nadu Medical Council (TNMC) are bound to go into allegations/deficiencies based on complaints from patients or their relatives.
As emphasised by the Supreme Court, private and government hospital doctors were duty-bound to give timely treatment to patients, the court said.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Paul Vasanthakumar and K. Ravichandrabaabu made the observation, dismissing an appeal by the TNMC against a single judge’s order of November 8 last.
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The court observed that in some cases, timely treatment was not being given to patients for want of doctors, beds and operation tables, and also because of their inability to make an advance payment at private hospitals. It was brought to the court’s notice that in the intensive care units of several hospitals, no experts were available, and only unqualified/qualified nurses were looking after the critically ill patients. The TNMC should not shirk its responsibility by arguing that the patient or his/her relatives had approached the consumer forum for compensation, Mr. Justice Vasanthakumar said, writing the judgment.
The court made it clear that compensation was one aspect. Initiating action against the doctor for alleged violation of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations was another aspect for which the TNMC and the MCI were responsible.
Originally, Dr. Easwaran, himself a surgeon working in the United Kingdom, complained to the TNMC in January 2012 against the doctors of a private hospital here that it was only due to their negligence and breach of duty of care that his father, a cancer patient, died in that month. He lodged a complaint with the MCI. Even after the MCI’s reply that the TNMC could go into the complaint and take action, the State council failed to act. Hence, he filed a writ petition.
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A single judge directed the TNMC to dispose of the complaint on merits as per the law. Hence, the present appeal.