KOCHI: The poor and needy, who are dependent on government medical college hospitals for treatment, are deprived of quality medical care as the doctors are looking for lucrative postings in the private sector or abroad, the Kerala High Court observed on Wednesday. The “money-mania” that burdens the medical profession needs to be addressed, added the court.

The court noted that more than 75 doctors in state service have not been reporting to work and the government has initiated steps against them. A Division Bench of Justice V Chitambaresh and Justice Ashok Menon observed that the medical profession is in the clutches of consumerist and materialistic culture.

The doctors choosing private practice or posting in the private sector deprive the patients belonging to the lower strata of society of quality medical care. The bench issued the order on an appeal filed by the State Government that challenged the Kerala Administrative Tribunal’s order directing it to reinstate Dr P Gopinathan, an associate professor of Orthopedics at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode.Dr Gopinathanwas absent from service without authorization from February 20, 2010.

Dr Gopinathan intimated the government that he was not on unauthorized leave.His absence was on medical ground and he had submitted leave applications. The government informed the court that several persons, who had gone on leave for serving abroad, did not report for duty even after completion of the leave period. The acute shortage of faculty members in the government medical colleges has forced the government to initiate disciplinary proceedings collectively against all unauthorized absentees. A show-cause notice was served on Dr Gopinathan and a notice was also published in a leading daily, stated the government.

Dr Gopinathan had replied that he was medically unfit to attend work. The court noted that he had gone abroad for higher education. It said that if he was medically unfit to attend duty, how could he go abroad for higher education is a question he must answer. The court directed to conduct a formal inquiry into this matter, following which, the government and the department shall be at liberty to take appropriate action. (The New Indian Express)