PROFESSIONAL DEVIANCE IN MEDICAL FIELD – TIME TO RETHINK
Category: ARTICLE
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ABSTRACT
Medical profession is regarded as a noble profession and it directly involves saving the life of any human being. In the old days doctors were treated like God by patients who thought of them as Saviors' of human life. Day by day doctors- patient relationships have no longer been a healthy and strong relationship and it’s transformed into a service provider and consumer relationship. Every Doctor is proud of their noble profession and fully aware of their responsibility towards their patients.
KEY WORDS: Medical profession, patient, professional deviance.
INTRODUCTION
Doctors are considered as most reputed and responsible citizens in our society. Usually in the entire tenure of medical profession, the health professionals could earn good money in to his income and pay taxes honestly. But there are also few many doctors who involved in the corruptions, including issuance of false medical certificates,helping illegal abortions, providing secret services to criminals, by giving expert opinion in criminal cases leading to acquittal of true criminals and selling sample drugs and medicines to patients or chemists.
CAUSES OF INCREASES OF PROFESSIONAL DEVIANCE IN FIELD OF MEDICAL
There are some additional causes for such deviances are as follows:
Maximum citizen in our country are poor ,they don’t have proper educational qualification and they are economically backward classes. They Easily manipulated by the others and they blindly believe in doctors and doctors are taking this advantages.
Another reason for this types of crimes is inflation of politician, who always support and help them to perform their illegal activities. In return such deviant professionals finance politicians at the time of election or help them in any illegal acts.
Changing tendency of people to accumulate wealth by all means, when they find acute shortage of jobs and other opportunities for their children, as there is no guarantee from the State to provide livelihood.
DEVIANCES/MALPRACTICES WHICH ARE COMMONLY COMMITTED BY THE BELONGING TO MEDICAL PROFESSIO INCLUDES:
1.Submitting post mortem reports which is totally fake, and which is also prepared by the examiner doctor to cover up criminals and murderer.
2.Issuance of false Medical certificate by any medical practitioner.
3.Demanding and receiving extra money from suppliers of medicines, other equipment and instruments to hospitals.
5.Illegal abortion is also comes under medical deviance which includes procuring, assisting or attempting to procure illegal abortion.
6.Pre sex determination is a very important offence done by various medical practitioner and it’s now banned in India. In this case doctor kill the female fetus after determination.
7.Giving false medical reports in rape cases and dowry death to save the culprits.
8.Presenting fake, illegal and misleading claims of medical cure thorough ads.
9.Not attending the patient who is already under his treatment of doctor’s illegal demands are not fulfilled by patient.
10.Kindey racket is a most illegal practice adopted by some doctors with help of criminals.
MEDICAL DEVIANCES AND LAW
There are various law for preventing the medical deviances or stop this type of crime. They are-
MEDICAL TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY (МТР) АСТ : Sec 3 of MTP Act. In India Abortion is egal in India up to 12 weeks, and 12-20 weeks with 2 doctors’ approval, considering fetal health and woman’s risk. Sec 5 of MTP Act. Whoever terminates any pregnancy in a place other than that mentioned, shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than two years but which may extend to seven years.
VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF IPC: Sec 304A of IPC state that causing death by negligence.—Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both. Sec 312 of IPCWhoever voluntarily causes a woman with child to miscarry, shall, if such miscarriage be not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both; and, if the woman be quick with child, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
TRANSPLANTATION OF HUMAN ORGAN AND TISSUE ACT,2011:Sec 7 of the act state that after the removal of any human organ
or tissue or both from the body of any person, the registered medical practitioner shall take such steps for the preservation of the human organ or tissue or both so removed as may be prescribed.
INDIAN MEDICAL COUNCIL ACT, 1956: Sec 24 of this act deals with Where the name of any person has been removed from a State Medical Register on the ground of professional misconduct or any other ground.
CASE LAW ON MEDICAL DEVIANCES:
Jaggan Khan vs State of MP: In this case it was held by the Supreme Court that, a great care should be taken before imputing criminal negligence to a professional man acting in the course of his profession. A doctor is not criminally responsible for a patient's death unless his negligence shows such disregard for life and safety as to amount to a crime against the State. Where the accused, who was registered as a Homeopath, administered to the patient suffering from guinea worm, 24 drops of Stramonium and a leaf of Dhatura without studying its effect and the patient died of poisoning. Accused is guilty under sec 304A of Indian penal code.
M.A Bivji vs Sunita and Ors: Union government’s proposal to frame guidelines for medical negligence in India, the Supreme Court of India, in its recent judgment in the matter of M.A. Bivji versus Sunita and Others, reiterates that for a medical practitioner to be liable for medical negligence a higher threshold is required.
RECENT MEDICAL DEVIANCES CASE IN INDIA:
1.Four doctors in Coimbatore hospital directed to give Rs 20lakh compensation to man for medical negligence: The patient suffered restlessness and acute pain. Finally, around 11.45pm, the blood transfusion stopped. Around 3am on January 12, she was suffering from a high fever and chills. The condition of the patient was informed to the doctors over the phone. However, they did neither provide any emergency medical aid nor shift the patient to any multi-specialty hospital.
2.Doctors performed surgery on boy’s private part instead of injured leg, allege his parents: The parents of a nine-year-old boy from Shahapur in Maharashtra’s Thane district have complained to the police that doctors at a government-run hospital wrongly performed a surgery on his private part instead of an injured leg. Following their allegation, a health official assured an inquiry into the episode, and the police said they are carrying out a probe.
CONCLUSION:
In this article I just highlighted about the malpractices of medical practitioner. As we regards the medical professional as a novel profession so we expect some basic obligations from them. As this profession not only affects economy but also affects the health of the society at large. But only for some greedy practitioner it’s very unfair to blame the whole community, because every doctors follows the ethical principles of morality to save the life of every needy patient.
OLQ is a Pan-India basis law firm connecting legal expertise nationwide
WRITTEN BY: KOUSTAV GHOSH
GUIDED BY: ADVOCATE ANIK
