2nd National Convention On Medicine & Law – 2016 Concludes
In New Delhi
New Delhi: A major step in bridging
the lack of dialogue between the doctor community, hospitals, legal
professionals, and policy makers was taken yesterday at 2nd National
Convention on Medicine & Law – 2016 organized by the Institute of Medicine
& Law (IML). Subsequently a white paper recommending legal reforms in
health care was released today, which will be submitted to policy makers and
regulators.
The document exhaustively discusses and highlights several medico-legal
issues including the need for a new law recognizing declaration or
certification of Brain Stem Death as a form of death under Uniform
Determination of Death Act, a law to enable doctors to refuse treatment or
admission in case of 'futility of care', to legally recognize Living Wills /
Advance Directives / DNR Instructions among others.
“India is witnessing a sharp rise in cases of medical negligence in
courts along with cases of violence against doctors and hospitals. These
indicate a systemic failure and breakdown of trust between doctors and patients.
A soft regulatory framework, unrealistically high expectations of patients, and
the peculiar socio-economic character of the nation further compound the issue.
This does not augur well for a developing country like India and the convention
hopes to bring apprise Policy makers and regulators about these contentious
issues and recommend changes required in the legal and regulatory framework,”
says Advocate Mahendrakumar Bajpai, keynote speaker at the 2nd
National Convention on Medicine & Law – 2016.
Dr Ravindra Pandula (Member of Parliament – Amalapuram, Andhra Pradesh),
Dr V P Mishra, Chairman - Academic Council, MCI, Dr B C Gupta, Member, -
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Dr B D Athani, Special
Director General of Health Services – MoHFW were the Guests of Honour at the
convention.
“It is inappropriate that courts are forced to find solutions to issues
that should have been provided either by the policy makers or the medical
fraternity. It is imperative for doctors, medical associations, and hospitals
to come together to identify and discuss the legal issues relating to medicine
and to find practical and legally appropriate solutions. The recommendations on
transplant, HIV, dermatology, intensivists, private hospitals, public hospitals
and emergency medicine are generally unanimous in their respective consensus and
have been constructively conveyed through the paper,” adds Adv. Bajpai.
The convention also discussed and addressed several other pressing
medico-legal matters that are either still ambiguous or have not received the
deserved attention. Some of these include incentivizing organ donation with
non-monetary incentives to the donor or family such as giving priority in
receiving organs, to allow HIV positive couples to adopt children subject to
certain conditions and due diligence performed by the authorities, framing
regulations for doctors’ website and its content, and also framing of proper
guidelines for tele-consultation and e-consultation among others.
“The Convention is a platform to identify the legal issues relating to
medicine, discuss them threadbare, and suggest remedial measures. Into the
second year, the Convention has registered a humongous increase in
participation from all relevant communities compared to the previous year’s and
has raised the bar in making definitive strides towards addressing the legal
health care issues in India. The suggestions and actions recommended by the
Convention will be conveyed appropriately to the regulators and policy makers,”
concludes Adv. Bajpai.
Institute of Medicine & Law:
Institute of Medicine & Law (IML) provides
education, information, and services related to medical laws. IML’s actionable
content and analyses are delivered to doctors, hospitals, and lawyers on
multiple platforms in real time. IML is India’s foremost authority on medical
laws possessing the best resources in terms of legal professionals and experts.
Its detailed knowledge bank is continuously updated with the latest
developments and is optimally utilized to provide medico legal solutions to the
benefit of healthcare providers. IML organized the first ever 'National
Convention on Medicine & Law - 2015' (www.medicineandlawconvention.com), a
platform to identify the legal issues relating to medicine, discuss them
threadbare, and suggest remedial measures. Doctors, medical associations,
hospitals, lawyers, judges, regulators, and policy makers were part of this
initiative.
For further
information, please visit http://medicineandlawconvention.com/
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