Including docs under Consumer Act detrimental: IMA secy gen

Making doctors liable under the Consumer Protection Act is detrimental to the availability of quality medical care in the country, Indian Medical Association (IMA) secretary general K K Aggarwal said today as he called upon the government to take necessary steps to protect the nobility of the profession.
"The need of the hour is for the government to address the issues that the medical fraternity is facing and take necessary steps to protect the nobility of the profession. Including doctors within the consumer protection act is detrimental to the availability of quality medical care.
"By offering unscrupulous compensation to patients, an unnecessary fear amongst honest doctors will be created. This will cause a substantial increase in treatment costs and the number of false cases being registered against doctors by patients. The act must be done away with until a cap on the compensation is implemented," Aggarwal said on day three of 'Perfect Health Mela' being held here.

The Mela featured a live webcast on medico-legal issues, claimed to be the first-of-its-kind, which was attended by over 1,000 doctors.
In his address at the fair, Medanta's chairman Dr Naresh Trehan said doctors must ensure that they maintain proper medical records of their patients and give enough time to all patients irrespective of the work pressure to ensure that there is no negligence on their end.
"They must effectively communicate with their patients about the treatment options available, the risks involved and educate them that just because a treatment costs more, it does not make it more effective.
"Doing so will help eliminate any unrealistic expectations of the patients and protect doctors against unnecessary cases of negligence and violence," he said.