Telangana, Andhra Pradesh too ignore law for doctors

Hyderabad: Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh, in addition to 16 other states, have adopted a law against violence against doctors but it is not being implemented.

Besides, doctors are still opting for out-of-court settlements, alleges the Telangana state IMA.

Dr Sanjiv Sing Yadav, secretary, IMA Telangana, said, “Implementing the law requires the assistance of the police. Any act of violence against doctors, nurses, or healthcare workers is a punishable offence, and albeit previously non-bailable, the government has declared such offences as bailable. We need strict laws to be implemented by the Central government, and the state must be directed to follow it.”

According to the law, offenders can be sentenced to up to three years in prison and levied a penalty of Rs 50,000. In case of damage to medical equipment, offenders are liable to pay for repair or replacement.

While the law is in place, its implementation isn’t, doctors alleged. Doctors and hospitals often end up working out a settlement with the offenders instead of booking a case against them, they said.

A senior doctor on condition of anonymity explained, “The foremost priority for doctors is to maintain credibility, which they believe is likely to get tarnished if they book cases against offenders, so they opt for out-of-court settlement. The second issue is that most doctors aren’t willing to fight it out as they find the process tedious. They also frequently find themselves feeling intimidated by the agents and end up giving in. If a proper case is booked, however, then out-of-court settlements will reduce, thereby giving doctors an upper hand in such cases. This calls for a stringent law.”

Doctors in small cities have observed there are groups that are constantly looking for deaths which can be blamed on negligence so as to extort money from doctors.

The recent case in Warangal wherein an orthopedic surgeon was accused of behaving indecently with a woman was solved in his favour as CCTV footage proved that no such attempt was made. The woman and her relatives had made up the story to extract money from the surgeon.

Dr Narsinga Reddy, IMA member said, “We want the Central government to intervene. Imprisonment needs to be increased — three years is too short.”