Medical ethics

The Himalayan Times

3 May 2013 

This is in reference to the news report “BPKIHS stops admitting patients amid doc’s protest” (THT, 1 May 2013). It was quite painful to know that hundreds of visiting patients have been deprived of receiving medical treatments just because of the immoral and insensible acts of the hospital management and the agitating junior doctors. There should be other alternatives to give pressure to the hospital management to be responsible for fulfilling their demands (if the demands were genuine ones) rather than depriving the patients from their rights of receiving basic treatment. Is this not completely against medical ethics of the agitating doctors who were supposed to be guided by their professionalism (taking an oath of serving the people while graduating)? 

Both the hospital management and the agitating doctors should sit on the negotiating table and try to amicably settle the burning issues keeping the rights of the patients to receive primary treatment at the center stage. Confrontations invite further unwanted situations that could be harmful to both the parties. Padlocking the offices of top officials does not suit to the medical ethics of the doctors and not help in solving the problems. This does not seem the act of educated professionals.

Recently, there was another news report about a hospital in the far west that had been running for the last 40 years being shut down because of the government’s apathy. There must be something seriously wrong on the part of either the government or the hospital management in completely closing down or temporarily shutting down the hospital services. What a pity? This kind of painful act rarely takes part in other parts of the globe.

Rai Biren Bangdel

Maharjgunj, Kathmandu