PG Times

  The new rule : Families of patients can no longer appeal to the National Medical Commission (NMC) against decisions of state medical councils, reports  TOI . The appeals are being rejected citing Section 30(3) of the NMC Act of 2019, which replaced the Indian Medical Council Act. Section 30(3) refers to the right of only medical practitioners or professionals who are aggrieved by any action of a state medical council and allows an appeal to the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of the NMC. The old rule : In May 2004, the MCI's Ethics Regulations 2002 were amended to include two clauses, one of which gave "any person aggrieved by the decision of state medical councils on any complaint against a delinquent physician the right to file an appeal to the MCI" while the other gave MCI the power to transfer a matter from state medical councils if it was not decided within a period of six months from the date of the complaint. This means : "This change in the new...

Sameera Jahagirdar says MBBS textbooks continue to ‘criminalise’ a transgender Sameera M. Jahagirdar is now going to take her fight for the rights of LGBT+ to the Medical Council of India, which has not yet recognised the need to restructure the MBBS curriculum in which the textbooks continue to criminalise a transgender or a homosexual or anyone who does not fall within the two-gender sexual orientations of society. Her journey as a woman trapped in a man’s body and taking up the medical profession to unravel the biological enigma of the human body was one of continuous trauma. The fight within herself to realise her sexual orientation leading later to gender identity and with society’s unrelenting stand on homosexuality and transgender was too much to handle as she had no one to talk to about what she was going through. “I used to internalise everything that it damaged my psyche,” said Dr. Jahagirdar, Assistant Professor, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Mahatm...

By Devi Shetty  and  Sneha Iype Recently, the Supreme Court turned down a request for termination of pregnancy from a 27 week pregnant lady, with a Down syndrome foetus. Indian law prevents termination of pregnancy after 20 weeks of gestation for major foetal abnormalities. However, many developed countries like Canada allow the termination of pregnancy even at an advanced stage, in case of foetal abnormalities. The time has come for us to review the law with restricting termination of pregnancy to within 20 weeks. If the mother feels that she is not mentally ready to take care of a child with incurable cardiac problems or Down syndrome, she should have the right to terminate the pregnancy at a later stage. Operating on a new born baby with a hole in the heart and watching him or her grow up and celebrate life is the most joyful experience a surgeon like me (Shetty) can have. Unfortunately not all the stories I have for my children has a happy ending. About 5% of...

The Supreme Court on Monday denied permission to a woman to abort her 27-week-old foetus showing signs of severe physical abnormalities. A Bench of Justices S A Bobdey and L Nageshwara Rao referred to the report of the medical board, which had examined the woman, and said that as per the opinion of the doctors, the baby may be “born alive” if the mother is allowed to abort at this stage. The court also observed that as per the doctors’ opinion, the physical condition of the woman is normal and there is no risk to her health. “As regard to the foetus, the report states that, if the pregnancy is terminated in the 27th week, there is a possibility that the baby may be born alive,” the Bench observed. “We don’t consider it appropriate to direct the petitioner (woman) to terminate the foetus,” the court said. Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar told the Bench that as per the report of the medical board of the Mumbai-based K E M Hospital, the foetus has severe physical abnormalities...

With 40% seats for doctors remaining vacant in the medical and health services across state, the director general of health, Sunil Srivastava, has asked all chief medical officers (CMOs) in UP to deploy physicians from the community health centres (CHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs) to attend to emergency cases and post mortem duties. Doctors in Bareilly, however, said that out of 45 posts at the district hospital, 23 seats are vacant and post mortem duties often add to their workload. In a letter issued to all CMOs and chief medical superintendents (CMS), the DG health ordered that there is no age bar for doctors to attend to emergency cases and post mortem duties. Earlier, a rule stated that doctors above 55 years cannot perform these tasks. Dr KS Gupta, CMS at the district hospital, said, “At present, 15 doctors from the main district hospital, women’s district hospital, central jail and district jail have been deployed for post mortem duties. After rules relatin...

Unique relief for Doctors in PCPNDT – The General Surgeon who was using Sonography Machine for diagnostic purpose received Rs.10,000/- from Appropriate authority for illegal sealing of sonography machines in a judgement delivered by Division bench of Bombay High Court.  Facts of the case:   1. The Appropriate Authority when visited the Petitioner’s (the surgeon) Clinic  in 2011 found that the room where the ultrasound Sonography machine was kept, was not put under lock and key. A show cause notice was therefore issued to the petitioner calling upon him to explain as to why the room where ultrasound Sonography machine was kept was not put under lock. On the same day, the Tahsildar, without waiting for receipt of explanation from the petitioner, proceeded to draw a panchanama and attached and sealed the machine. 2. The petitioner tendered his explanation informing that he uses the machine for diagnosis of cases for surgical purpose and does not put it to use...

The Bombay High Court recently asked the principal secretary of the law and judiciary department of the state government to look into a study highlighting the issue of unnecessarily calling doctors to give evidence in courts and the “failure” of the state government to implement the suggestions given by the Supreme Court in 1989 regarding the same. The move follows a 19-page study report prepared and submitted by Dr Indrajit Khandekar, professor and in-charge of Clinical Forensic Medicine Unit (CFMU) at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS), Sewagram, Wardha to the Bombay High Court on July 15. In his report, Dr Khandekar had pointed out that treating doctors as well as autopsy doctors are routinely called to court to give evidence and testify the details of patients from the medical or medico-legal reports. Even after attending the court, in around 45 to 50 percent of the cases, the evidence is not recorded as the evidence of the doctor was already ad...