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Pune doctors to refuse treatment for abusive patients

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Vicky Pathare    29 August 2019

Pune doctors have decided to stop providing treatment to any person who uses violence, physically and verbally, with them. The Pune branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) is the first in the country to start such an initiative due to the incidents of violence against doctors are increasing at alarming rate in the country.

They will be denying treatment to patients who would trouble doctors for no logical reason and have a history of verbal or physical abuse of doctors and health care workers. Even though the doctors will make use of their rights and choose their patients, they will provide emergency life-saving treatment to patients with any such history.

The doctors have made a list of patients who have previously created trouble and abused doctors and medical fraternity. The doctors said that the details of these patients including, name, family member’s name, address of incident, type of violence are going be been recorded in the registry.

Dr Jayant Navarange, chairman, medico-legal cell, IMA Pune, said that a patient or his family who have troubled a doctor for no reason, but usually to dishonorreasonable fees; those who create trouble of any sort, indulge in violence of any sort like verbal, physical, destructive, pollution, coming in alcoholic state or under some intoxicated state, etc. should berefuse treatment.

Only, in life threatening emergency conditions they will be provided treatment. Doctors have a legitimate right of refusing a patient or say, choosing a patient, as per Medical Council of India rules 2.1.1 (Rules of ethics, 2002 and as amended in 2016).

He further said that not only such persons are threat to doctors, staff, or medical establishment, they are dangerous to other patients as peaceful atmosphere is required to treat a patient in clinic or hospital premises.

Dr Sanjay Patil, president, IMA, Pune chapter, said that the doctors have the right to choose their patients and refuse the treatment as per the Medical Ethics and Code of Conduct. Due to the distressing situation, the doctors have decided to take such steps and have developed the registry and are going to keep on updating the details of such patients in them. The data of this registry will be shared internally.

He further said that the Nationalist Congress Party doctor’s cell, General Practitioner Association, and other doctors association are soon expected to follow the same step. The emergency lifesaving treatment, follow to such patients and treatment and treatment during natural disaster will be provided to these patients.

Dr Shiv kumar Utture, president of Maharashtra Medical Council stated that the doctors have a right as per the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956; to choose their patients and can deny treatment to a patient if it’s not lifesaving. But no doctor can deny treatment that is emergency lifesaving and limb saving treatment. As per the MCI Act the doctor has to provide the emergency treatment obligatory and then refer the patient if needed to the required tertiary care.

Also, the rule of Supreme Court is for the trauma patients or accident patients in which the accident victim cannot be denied treatment. He said that as the patients have the rights to choose their doctors, the doctors too have a right to choose his patients in certain circumstances.

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