VIJAYAWADA: In the wake of rising incidents of violence against doctors and hospitals, the medical fraternity appealed to the people to take a pledge to shun violence against them and their hospitals in the state to mark 75th Independence Day celebrations.
Unlike the earlier practice of four to five cases of assault on doctors and ransacking their hospitals alleging negligence to protect the lives of patients per year, the number of cases has gone up to seven to eight per month causing a serious concern to doctors.
The doctors alleged that on one pretext or the other, patients’ family members or local supporters were picking up a quarrel to target doctors and their hospitals and assault them and damage their properties and medical equipment in the ICUs and later rope in local politicians or even advocates to subject the doctors to blackmail, resort to extortion or even life threat at times.
Apart from the people’s wholehearted respect towards the doctors and support to provide better healthcare to the patients, the doctors requested intervention of the Andhra Pradesh government to resolve the issue once and for all.
Accordingly, they want the amendment to the relevant sections the Andhra Pradesh Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, 2008 brought in by the then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. As the Act suggests three years rigorous imprisonment and imposition of a fine of Rs 50,000 on perpetrators of crime against doctors and hospitals, doctors want such provisions to be amended to make the jail term to be seven years and penalty to be imposed of the value of three fold of actual damage caused to the property.
Recently, a doctor in a private hospital in Vijayawada was assaulted and the medical equipment in the ICU was damaged by the kin of a patient and doctors were even threatened for settlement of the issue by paying money instead of booking cases in the police stations concerned to resolve the cases as per norms.
Indian Medical Association AP branch president Dr C. Srinivasa Raju said, “We appeal to the state government to take up the issue of assault on doctors and ransacking hospitals by carrying out an amendment to the concerned sections of the Act. Incidents of violence are causing concern among the doctors and some doctors are even getting demoralised to practice medicine fearing trouble.”
The doctors also appealed to both the Central and the state governments to release financial relief worth Rs 50 lakh each to 85 doctors who lost their lives due to Coronavirus in AP.
