The incident in which a five-day-old female baby died at a government hospital in Jalandhar district of Punjab after she was taken out of the incubator, apparently because her father could not afford the fee of Rs 200 is totally atrocious and inhumane. It invites our wrath when a physician who has taken the Hippocratic oath that he will “fulfill according to his ability and judgment this oath and this covenant...he will apply...(treatment) for the benefit of the sick according to his ability and judgment; he will keep them from harm and injustice,” has done this serious crime.
Throughout our history, medical institutions have largely been charitable, nonprofit establishments existing primarily to serve the community. This incident has proved the deterioration and decay of public health care system in India. The government has a moral obligation to meet the basic needs of all of its members. Every Indian, rich or poor, should have access to free health care he or she needs. Despite mushrooming of sophisticated state of the art hospitals in cities serving the rich, thousands of rural India's poor patients have to depend upon government hospitals when they desperately need health care. This heart breaking incident carries the message that there is an urgent need to strengthen the public health care system in India so that deprived sections of the society could have greater access to medical aid in time.
The virtues of caring, compassion, and charity, and a sense of community have been perpetuated by good physicians whose primary concern has been the alleviation of human suffering and the restoration of health. We must not allow such important and fragile virtues and ideals to be extinguished by the self-interest that drives responsible doctors to kill an innocent life. We must not allow the motive of economic gain to enter so directly into the practice of medicine, placing the well-being of patients in serious jeopardy, and undermining the trust so essential to the physician-patient relationship.
For your reading the report appeared in The Hindu -27-07-2012
Newborn dies as father couldn’t pay Rs. 200 for incubator
A five-day-old baby girl died at the government-run Civil Hospital at Jalandhar as the staff stopped treatment when her father could not pay Rs. 200 charged for use of an incubator.
The incident came to light when Sanjeev Kumar, a daily wage painter, and his wife Anita accused the staff of “killing” the baby born prematurely in the hospital on July 20. The child required extra medical assistance as it developed complications, including jaundice, immediately after birth.
On Wednesday, the staff asked Sanjeev to deposit Rs. 200 for running the incubator. But he was not able to arrange for the money.
Apparently, the staff withdrew all treatment and handed over the baby to the mother, who pleaded for some more time. Within hours, the condition of the baby deteriorated and it died in the arms of its hapless mother. When the shocking incident came under media spotlight, local health authorities went into overdrive to shift blame. Witnesses said some hospital officials tried to argue that a written request was necessary from the child’s parents to allow use of the incubator. Sanjeev, who is not a literate, was not aware of such regulations.
Finally, the Chief Minister took “cognisance” of the situation and ordered a fast track inquiry into the incident.
No comments:
Post a Comment