Patient in Rajasthan denied admission: Doctor cries foul, says action taken without inquiry

ANI | Alwar (Rajasthan) [India] Jul 05, 2017 11:07 PM IST

After reports emerged that an eight-month pregnant woman was allegedly refused admission in three different hospitals in Rajasthan’s Alwar district before she finally delivered her baby outside a Community Health Centre (CHC), the accused doctor, who has been relieved with an APO (Awaiting Posting Order), has decried the order by the Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), saying that the action was taken without a proper inquiry into the matter.

“No inquiry has taken place. I wasn’t asked anything. The Reproductive and Child Health Officer (RCHO) came to me on July 3 and asked whether the admission ticket that was found with the patient was made in the hospital. I said it was made by me. In fact, I got the information that the patient, instead of going inside had gone away through the media only,” Dr. Kanchan Batra, the doctor on duty at the time of the incident, said.

“We have 16 beds in our labour room and more than 40 patients are admitted on a single day. That day, between 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., out of 216 patients, 35 were admitted to the labour room. Her ticket was made at 11.38 a.m. and since it was a computerised ticket, the time is the ultimate proof. And after that neither the CMHO, nor the RCHO took any statement from me. They just took the action. I am now on Awaiting Posting Order (APO) without any inquiry,” the doctor added.

Dr. Batra further said that there were no complications in her pregnancy and that’s why she delivered on her own.

The doctors of the district hospital, however, are presenting a united front in support of Dr. Batra even as they held a strike for two hours on Wednesday.

“We’ll see what more we can do in case the administration doesn’t do anything,” she said.

“Along with me, action has been taken against the Akbarpur CHC doctor and the nurse who didn’t check on the patient. They were relieved on July 1. I got the information last night. They have taken the action on the behalf of the media. They are being partial,” she added.

Dr. Bhagwan Sahay, the Principal Medical Officer (PMO), has assured of a proper inquiry.

“We have set up a committee and will do an inquiry. According to the CMHO, who produced the order, the doctor is at fault for not properly counselling the patient. But prima facie, it doesn’t look like it’s the doctor’s fault. A doctor cannot escort every patient till the ward. The doctor made the ticket and asked the patient to get admitted. Now why she didn’t do it will be found after the inquiry only,” he said.

“Today, a two-hour strike was held. It’s expected to continue tomorrow, though I haven’t got anything in written,” he added.

It was earlier reported that on July 1, Lacha Devi, along with her husband, visited the Akbarpur CHC for consultation from where they were sent to the Alwar district hospital.

The woman was then taken to the Satellite Hospital in Alwar’s Kala Kuan area where she was referred to the Zanana Hospital from where they returned home.

Devi then experienced intense labour pain and was rushed to the Akbarpur CHC again where she delivered a baby girl outside the hospital.

Meanwhile, Alwar CMHO Shyam Sundar Agarwal said an action would be taken after an inquiry report is tabled after which two on-duty doctors and a nurse were relieved for APO.

The State Women Commission has also sought an inquiry into the matter.

Govt to curb ‘cut practice’ in medical profession

Maharashtra Government is all set to curb ‘Cut Practice’ in medical profession. Soon, Government will introduce ‘Prevention of Cut Practices in Medical Services Act 2017.’

S Srinivasan of All India Drugs Network (AIDAN) through e-pharmail has mentioned that State Government has formed a nine member committee to study regulations in other countries for preventing cut practices including anti kickback laws in USA and UK and suggest measures to be incorporated in the proposed Act.

The committee will be headed by former Director General of Police, Pravin Dixit. The committee consists of Dr Avinash Supe, Director of Medical Education and major BMC hospitals; Dr Sanjay Oak, Director of Prince Aly Khan Hospital, Byculla; Dr Abhay Chowdhary, President of Maharashtra Medical Council; Dr Ramakant Panda, Vice Chairman of Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai; Indian Medical Association (IMA) representative, Dr Yeshwant Amdekar, pediatrician; Dr Amit Karkhanis, dermatologist; and Dr Himmatrao Bawaskar, Mahad.

Srinivasan mentioned that during the first meeting of the committee held on Tuesday, the panel of members discussed different provisions of proposed act in details. Section I of the act contains definition of the Act which reads any person believed to be medical experts having received a patient for treatment, refers him to other medical experts, hospitals, laboratory for further treatment/examination/ tests and in turn receives any pecuniary benefits from such medical experts/hospitals/laboratory, would be committing an act of indulging in ‘Cut practices in Medical Services’.

Section II says, “Cut practice in medical services is an offence and would be charged under cognisable offence tried by JMFC, 1st Class. Any person who indulges in such acts repeatedly, would be treated as repeat offender.”
Section III deals with punishment for the offence. It reads punishment for the offence of “Cut practice in medical services” would be simple punishment up to three months and fine up to Rs 5,000. Repeated offender would be punishable by simple imprisonment up to six months and fine of Rs 25,000.

This committee was formed by the State Government following Dr Ramakant Panda’s representation to Directorate of Medical Education and Research, Government of Maharashtra over rampant growth of cut practice in medical field. It is to be recalled that Dr Panda’s Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai had put up a poster stating ‘No commission. Only honest medical opinion’ in the city which invoked sharp response from IMA. The hospital has also installed 10 banners in the city in response to IMA’s warning to remove the first one.

Reacting to IMA remark, Dr Panda stated “instead of protecting wrongdoers, IMA should sensitise its members on the need to do away with cut practice. It’s not that all of its members are engaged in such practice. There are a number of doctors who were never involved in it.”  Dr Panda said “We have found that at least one third of the patients who were asked to go for angioplasty or bypass surgery did not need it. The expense of treatment will decrease by 25% if cut practice is curbed.”

Considering the rampant growth of cut practice, Asian Heart Institute has initiated debate on the issue. A number of medical professionals including Dr Gautam Sen, Dr Vikrant Desai, Dr Sanjay Nagral, Dr Himmatrao Bawaskar, Dr Devi Shetty, Dr G N Rao, Dr Soma Raju, Dr Srinath Reddy, Dr Samiran Nundy etc had extended their support to the hospital crusade against cut practice in medical services.

Only MBBS can sign lab reports : MCI

Only mbbs doctor can sign lab reports : mci

No MSc, PhD have authority to sign laboratory reports like microbiology, pathology, biochemistry etc.

Dean, senior doctors booked for abetting suicide of resident doctor

SURAT: Five doctors, including the dean of the Government Medical College (GMC) Surat, were booked in Khatodara police station on Wednesday for allegedly abetting suicide of a 24-year-old resident doctor. The victim had ended life on Tuesday by jumping from an under-construction hospital building on New Civil Hospital (NCH) campus. The accused were also booked under Prevention of Atrocities Act following allegations levelled by father of the deceased. Read more