‘Koi sun to nahi raha?’: IMA’s new National President launches campaign on medical confidentiality
Padma Shri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal was sworn in as the 88th President of Indian Medical Association on Wednesday
New Delhi, Dec 31, 2016: Privacy and confidentiality are important tenets of ethical medical practice.
Patients have a legal right to data privacy, and there are laws in place to guide healthcare professionals about how to store, collect and distribute information. In this case, the patient is the supreme consent giver, and without such consent, no action on their health record can be taken.
Padma Shri Awardee Dr K.K Aggarwal, President Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI) and National President Indian Medical Association (IMA), stated that "IMA wants to streamline the rules relating to medical privacy and confidentiality. Through the ‘koi sun to nahi raha’ campaign, we wish to draw the general public’s attention to the rights that they are entitled to. Data protection and confidentiality are important cornerstones of medical ethics and essential to good practice. Moreover, it is also crucial with respect to patient safety. Patients often share private and intimate details about themselves with their doctors who in turn have an obligation to keep this information safe and private”.
Patient-doctor confidentiality helps build trust between the two entities and fosters a trusting environment, which is crucial to encourage the patient to seek care and to be as honest as possible during the course of a treatment. ‘Koi sun to nahi raha?’ is a campaign focused on building and strengthening this trusting relationship.
“Apart from existing patient data protection laws and practices, we intend to bring out the discussion in everyday practice. Small but important routine practices in healthcare settings often breach this privacy unknowingly. For instance, IMA is against the operation theatre list being displayed in corridors; this discloses personal and sensitive information about the patients. For the same purpose, a coding based system can be devised so that the full identity of the patient is not disclosed. Moreover, calling out the name of the patient in the corridors outside ICU also falls under this breach. These are small but often overlooked details in daily medical practice, which directly go against the medical ethic of doctor-patient confidentiality. IMA intends to highlight these issue and raise awareness among the patient and doctor community”, added Dr Aggarwal.
As a part of IMA’s mandate for the coming term, several innovative initiatives are underway. Mandatory request for organ donation is being implemented under the ‘ Poochna mat bhoolo' initiative. To help document and control preventable mortality, every such preventable death will be duly audited. The concept of ALERT- Acknowledge, Listen, explain, Revise and Thanks is being advocated as a routine practice in a clinical setting. The campaign for ‘think before you ink' is being envisioned in the context of encouraging blood donations. Finally, ‘Jiska koi nahi uska IMA' resonates the ideology that IMA holds above all- the greatest good is in helping those in need.
With this vision, IMA plans to make affordable, quality and specialised healthcare available to all under the leadership of Dr KK Aggarwal as it’s National President and Dr RN Tandon as the Honorary Secretary General in the coming year.
Showing posts with label Dr KK Aggarwal. HCFI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr KK Aggarwal. HCFI. Show all posts
Sunday, 1 January 2017
Start the New Year today with a change
Start the New Year today with a change
2016 has gone by and 2017 has come in.....a year has changed.
There has been a change of guards at IMA. A new Team IMA is in place and Team IMA is now Team 'Digital' IMA marking a change in its functioning. This year IMA will strive to be 'paperless' and use social media to connect with its members and the public.
Another major change that has carried over to this New Year is demonetisation, which has altered the financial picture in the country. It is gradually changing the way how transactions take place now and is making way for a future 'cashless' society. IMA supports the demonetisation drive of our Prime Minister and requests all members to support it wholeheartedly and make their practice cashless.
Health is not mere absence of disease; it is a state of physical, mental, social, spiritual, environmental and financial well-being. As doctors, it is our responsibility to advocate a change in lifestyle or way of life for good health and general well-being not only for our patients but also ourselves.
Follow this routine to make some positive changes in life.
- Monday: Do not indulge in gossip, criticism, condemnation, and/or complaints. When you want to communicate, do so in a nonviolent manner.
- Tuesday: Talk to 25 people whom you have not spoken to for the last 3 months; make a list of your pending work.
- Wednesday: Distribute nonmaterialistic gifts to everyone you meet. Smile, appreciate, encourage, and say a few kind words to others.
- Thursday: Think out of the box and look for new and innovative options. Finally, ask yourself how to choose the best option.
- Friday: Follow nature and do not eat cereals. Eat a diet that is rich in fruits and salads.
- Saturday: Ask yourself as to how you can help yourself, your family, your society, and your nation.
- Sunday: Just enjoy....
Happy New Year 2017!!!
Dr KK Aggarwal
National President IMA
National President HCFI
Dr KK Aggarwal
National President IMA
National President HCFI
IMA-MR Campaign IMA-MR Campaign
IMA-MR Campaign IMA-MR Campaign
India, along with other WHO-SEAR countries, in September 2013, resolved to eliminate measles and control rubella/congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) by 2020.
Accordingly, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is introducing Rubella vaccine in its Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) as Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccine.
The vaccine will be introduced as MR Campaign, targeting children from 9 months up to 15 years, in a phased manner over 2 to 3 years, followed by inclusion of the vaccine in routine immunization.
The campaign targets a large birth cohort of approximately 41 crore children, starting in the 1st quarter of 2017. The campaign will be conducted over a period of 3-4 weeks, where vaccination will first be conducted in schools and later in community through outreach.
The campaign aims to rapidly build up immunity against measles and rubella, and also provides a second opportunity for vaccination against measles for children left out in routine immunization.
· Sensitize patients and their relatives.
· Use IMA PvPI number – 9717776514 – to report adverse events.
You can make your clinic a part of the vaccination center.
Dr KK Aggarwal
National President IMA
A paradigm shift in the thinking of IMA this year
A paradigm shift in the thinking of IMA this year
IMA represents the collective consciousness of 2.8 lakh doctors across 1700 local branches and 31 state branches. To further strengthen the Association, this year we have envisaged a proactive role for IMA: moving on from what “IMA can do” to what “IMA Should Do” or “IMA to Do”.
We have also defined our guiding principles for this year. In 2017, IMA policies will be based on
· Collaboration rather than cooperation
· Right action and not convenient action
· Good plans and not quick plans
· Good Governance
· Financial stability
· Effective time management
· From professional to community priority
Our endeavour would be a collaborative approach to problem solving or tackling issues and challenges, where, unlike in cooperation, we work together in partnership towards one common goal. A collaborative approach accomplishes more than what can be done at an individual level.
I ask all IMA leaders to close the eyes and imagine themselves as President of IMA for a minute and think of what they could do to help the organization and the community via the Association. And that is what they contribute to the working of IMA.
Give 2 minutes of your time every day to IMA and come out with ideas and plans and submit them to IMA HQs for review and possible implementation.
Right action taken at the right time yields the desired result, which is long-lasting. The path of right action may be tough, yet it is the one we choose to solve a problem, rather than a more convenient action. A convenient action gives immediate gains, while the right action may not give immediate results.
Our aim is not to meet short-term goals. Hence, we want policies to be guided by good plans, which lay down a solid foundation. Good plans increase efficiency of working, facilitate effective utilization of resources, provide direction, promote teamwork and are goal-oriented. The gains from a good plan trickle down generations. Hence good plans are not quick plans.
Governance simply means decision making and implementation of decisions. Good governance has 8 major characteristics as described by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law.
Let us all follow these principles in one voice and make the Indian medical profession best in the world.
Dr KK Aggarwal
National President IMA and HCFI
ADA 2017 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes
Dr
K K Aggarwal, National President IMA
The American Diabetes Association (ADA)
has released its new Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes for the year
2017. The guidelines have especially focused on psychological health, access to
care, expanded and personalized treatment options, and the tracking
of hypoglycemia in people with diabetes.
Some salient features of the new Standards of
care include:
·
Guidelines on
screening adults and youth with diabetes for diabetes distress, depression,
anxiety and eating disorders; a list of situations that warrant a referral to a
mental health specialist is also included.
·
An expanded list of
diabetes comorbidities now includes autoimmune disease, HIV, anxiety
disorders, depression, disordered eating behavior and serious mental illness.
·
New lifestyle
management guidelines include a physical activity recommendation to
interrupt prolonged sedentary behavior every 30 minutes.
·
Sleep patterns should
be assessed as part of overall diabetes care because sleep quality may be
associated with blood glucose management.
·
The indications for
metabolic surgery have been expanded to include patients with inadequately
controlled type 2 diabetes who have a BMI as low as 30 kg/m2 (27.5
kg/m2 in Asian Americans).
·
Any of the four
classes of blood pressure medications that have shown beneficial
cardiovascular outcomes in people with diabetes - ACE inhibitors, angiotensin
receptor blockers, thiazide-like diuretics or dihydropyridine calcium channel
blockers - may now be used as first-line treatment for hypertension.
·
Anew insulin
algorithm included in the guidelines offers more glucose management options for
people with type 2 diabetes.
·
The Standards include
a new recommendation to consider the GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide and the
SGLT-2 inhibitor empagliflozin in patients with diabetes and CV disease
(history of stroke or heart attack, acute coronary
syndromes, angina or peripheral arterial disease) to reduce risk of death.
·
A level of less than
54mg/dl is now defined as denoting serious clinically important hypoglycemia.
·
To help reduce health
disparities, the Standards now recommend people with diabetes
receive self-management support from lay health coaches,
navigators and community health workers.
The Standards are available online on
Dec. 15, 2016, and will be published as a supplement to the January 2017 issue
of Diabetes Care.
(Source: ADA Press Release,
December 15, 2016)
Noise pollution: IMA Safe Sound Initiative
Noise
pollution: IMA Safe Sound Initiative
The National
Initiative for Safe Sound is one of the important social projects of National
IMA started two years back. This Initiative has been taken up by IMA as an
awareness campaign on the serious health issues of the Noise
Pollution.
Not only is
noise a primary reason for permanent deafness worldwide, it also has a lot of
deleterious effects on our vital organs like brain and sympathetic nerve
system, cardiovascular, endocrine, immune systems etc. It aggravates all
lifestyle diseases including hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases and
malignancies. As you are aware, our country is the noisiest place in the
world and at the same time public is hardly aware of these health issues.
Considering
all these facts, IMA, under the leadership of Immediate Past President Dr
Marthanda Pillai and Honorary Secretary General Dr KK Agarwal initiated this
project in 2014. The activities for the National Initiative for Safe Sound
continued this year too with the support of National President Dr SS
Agarwal. In the last two years most of the activities were in south
India, Maharashtra and Delhi and we could do a lot in this regard in these
places.
The incoming
National President and present Honorary Secretary General wish to continue this
project in a much more effective way by implementing the project in
all the states in India. He has asked me, as the National coordinator
of IMA National Initiative for Safe Sound, to suggest one senior IMA leader as
coordinator in every state, preferably an ENT person (but not necessarily so if
a doctor from any other specialty is really interested to take up this
project).
Being
the IMA State President of your state, I would request you to nominate
such a person as the State coordinator of IMA National Initiative for Safe
Sound and let me know his email address and telephone number.
Please
consider this as urgent as I have been asked by the Honorary Secretary General
to give the list of state coordinators by the 18th of December.
I am copying
this mail to our HSG Dr KK Aggarwal, IMA NISS Chairman Dr KA Seethi and
Convenor Dr CN Raja.
Expecting
your urgent attention and valuable cooperation.
Yours in IMA
Dr John
Panicker
Trivandrum, Kerala
National Coordinator, IMA Safe Sound Initiative
Trivandrum, Kerala
National Coordinator, IMA Safe Sound Initiative
Dr K K Aggarwal New National President IMA
Dr
K K Aggarwal New National President IMA
I thank all my mentors and colleagues for the confidence shown in me. I am both happy and tense so the responsibility given to me is huge and the time is only one year.
But with the help of you all I am sure Team Digital IMA will be able to deliver. Our mission for the year is IA 1 Voice. Let us all take IMA to a great height.
Following
are the links
5.
'Medico-legal Insights -IMA Legal Success Stories & White
Papers’ : http://module.ima-india.org/Natcon2016/success_story/
9.
Dr K K Aggarwal takes over as the National President of The Indian
Medical Association: https://youtu.be/8gSq5fAgmrg
Top 10 Advances in Cardiology (AHA)
Top 10 Advances in
Cardiology (AHA)
1.
In selective high-risk groups, additional
therapies help prevent a second stroke: Previous research has shown
that to prevent a second stroke, “aggressive medical management” — treating and
controlling high cholesterol, high blood pressure and blood sugar, as well as
lifestyle behaviors such as smoking cessation and exercise — is better than
stenting. But a study, SAMMPRIS, published in JAMA identified a subgroup of
patients at higher risk for a recurrent stroke despite this medical management
– and who need stenting. Investigators found that high-risk patients included
those who had an old stroke in the area of the blockage, a new stroke or were
not on a statin at the time they joined the study.
2.
New possibilities for treating women with
heart attacks: The study, in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation:
Cardiovascular Imaging, found that women
had a type of plaque thought to be vulnerable throughout the blood vessels,
while in men, they were mostly found in the earliest part of the artery. The
way plaques “broke” often was different as well. Men had larger size plaques
even though the women in the study had more cardiovascular risk factors.
3.
More options for valve replacements in the
elderly: In high risk patients
with aortic valve stenosis, treatment means either open-heart surgery or
transcatheter aortic valve replacement. This study, which focused on older
patients, compared surgery and TAVR by looking at the survival and stroke rates
of intermediate-risk patients. The research, published in the New England
Journal of Medicine, showed the rates were similar and that use of either
procedure would produce similar outcomes.
4.
Long-term study validates less-selective
invasive treatment for narrowed neck arteries: In the
past, the typical treatment for carotid arteries narrowing was carotid
endarterectomy. And now, research, CREST study published in the NEJM and based
on a 10-year follow-up, gives stenting more validation as an accepted
alternative.
5.
Better together: Managing blood pressure and
cholesterol at same time helps lower heart risk: This
research, called HOPE 3, is a combination of three articles published
simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine that, taken together,
conclude that reducing both blood pressure and cholesterol is better than doing
either alone. It also provide further evidence supporting the benefits of
statins in Asian and Hispanic populations.
6.
Evidence we might be able to outsmart our
genes: A study in NEJM found that among participants at high genetic risk
for cardiovascular disease, a favorable lifestyle was associated with a nearly
50% lower relative risk than those with an unfavorable lifestyle that included
smoking, obesity, lack of exercise and poor diet.
7.
Disparity in counseling women and minorities
with heart failure: Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD)
can be lifesaving by preventing sudden death in people with severe heart
failure. But, according to this study of 21,000 patients published in
Circulation, women and minority patients eligible for the device far too often
aren’t counseled about it. The findings show as many as four out of five
hospitalized patients with heart failure eligible for ICD counseling did not
receive it, particularly women and minority patients.
8.
Fainting could be a sign of pulmonary
embolism in some patients: NEJM: In the past, fainting had
not been considered high on the list of signs and symptoms pointing to PE. But
researchers in the PESIT study used a diagnostic workup to assess the presence
of the embolism and found it was present in about one out of six, or 18
percent, of the patients.
9.
Advancing the treatment of severe
strokes: This meta-analysis of patient data from five landmark trials shows the
benefits of stent retrievers that snare large clots from the brain. The
research published in The Lancet consolidates work that means providing timely
treatment for these patients could have a global impact.
10. Two
studies move the needle toward better prevention of heart disease:
·
Lowering blood pressure to below 120/90, compared with 140/90, led to
significantly lower rates of death and “cardiovascular events” among adults age
75 and older. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, extends the results of the recent SPRINT trial and could help
clear up inconsistencies in how doctors set blood pressure targets for
geriatric populations.
·
Also this year, investigators in a separate project identified a gene
variant that determines whether a carrier may have a lower risk of coronary
heart disease than those without the gene variation (NEJM). This gene, called
ANGPTL4, governs the action of lipoprotein lipase, or LPL, which plays a
critical role in breaking down a type of fat in the blood produced by the
liver, called triglycerides. High triglyceride levels are a contributor to
heart disease risk. In this study, people with a specific genetic variation in
the ANGPTL4 gene had lower triglyceride levels, higher “good” HDL cholesterol
levels, and lower coronary artery disease risk than those who did not have the
mutation.
Components of a consultation
Components
of a consultation
Dr
K K Aggarwal, National President IMA
IMA is
keen to determine optimum rates for professional consultations in different
outpatient and inpatient settings. Most professionals are not even aware of the
complexities that are a part of a so-called "simple consultation".
IMA
has formed a time bound committee, IMA costing department with Dr Vijay Agarwal
(9818766000) as its chairman.
IMA
has made a preliminary effort in detailing the components of consultation that
should ideally be compensated.
Mentioned
below is a template and we request you to fill in the amount that you are
charging presently and what you should be charging.
How
much time do you think is required to fulfill the obligations of a proper
consultation?
|
(Contributions from Dr
Vijay Agarwal, Chairman IMA Costing Department)
Government of Karnataka, to regulate/prescribe the rates chargeable by private medical establishments (and professionals) for services and procedures performed by them
Government of Karnataka, to
regulate/prescribe the rates chargeable by private medical establishments (and
professionals) for services and procedures performed by them
Dr
K K Aggarwal, National President IMA
The Government of Karnataka
is planning to introduce a Bill (January 2017?) for price
control in the private healthcare sector. Prices will be fixed for all medical
procedures including that for the patientsin the
private wards.
The government is unable to
provide care to the citizens through its networks and it is the private healthcare
providers, who are providing safe and quality healthcare to around 70 percent
of the citizens. If this happens it will destroy the healthcare delivery system
and the citizens of our state will have no access to the state of the art
technology. If the GoK succeeds, other states will follow suit.
Current Position
Clinical Establishment Act: rule 9 (2) The clinical
establishment shall charge the rates for each type of procedure and services
within the range of rated determined and issued by the central government from
time to time in consultation with the state government
Recommendations of inter-ministerial
committee
The committee recommends that the position of the
rule 9 (2) of the CE rules can be considered to be changed to the extent that
central government should specify the list of procedures and costing templates
while actual determination of the range of rates could be left to the state
governments who can take into consideration the relevant facts while deciding
upon the range of rates for their respective states in consultation with
relevant states holders including the Indian Medical Association.
IMA Position
1.
Challenge
the rule 9 as ultra vires as there is no provision of this in the parent act.
2.
No rates
can be decided without involvement of Indian Medical Association.
3.
IMA is
launching IMA costing department to decide templates and range of costing.
4.
Government
has powers to regulate the rates under municipal acts, only in emergency and
national calamities, not otherwise.
Legal Position taken by AHPI and CAHO
1.
The
anticipated governmental action may arise in one of two ways—(a) legislative
action, through the enactment of a fresh law, or the amendment of existing laws
by the State Legislature; or (b) executive/administrative action, through the
issuance of Rules/Regulations, or notifications/circulars, etc. under the
existing laws or otherwise.
2.
Legislative
action by the State is subject to challenge on broadly the following
parameters—(a) legislative incompetence [Whether the State Legislature has the
right to legislate on that subject], and (b) other constitutional grounds,
including violation of fundamental rights [right to equality and right to trade
and profession etc.]. Administrative actions are subject to the same constitutional
parameters, but can additionally be challenged on grounds that they do not
derive authority from any statutory framework, or fall foul of the statutory
framework from which they derive.
3.
In
particular, any legislative or administrative action to control or regulate
rates applicable in private medical establishments (or charged by
professionals) would predominantly be open to challenge on grounds that (a) the
body taking action does not have the competence to do so, and (b) violation of
the fundamental rights of medical practitioners/establishments, or other
constitutional provisions.
4.
In the
absence of any details of the nature and mechanism of the anticipated action in
Karnataka, the present Note restricts itself to a broad discussion on the
feasibility of a challenge on grounds of violation of the right to practice any
profession or carry on any occupation, trade or business, under Article
19(1)(g) read with Article 19(6) of the Constitution. The question
centers around the power of the Government to control price of private
enterprise.
5.
At
present, the statutory framework for private medical practice in Karnataka
consists of (a) the Karnataka Medical Registration Act, 1961 and (b) the
Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act, 2007 (and Rules framed
thereunder). These laws are enacted for (a) the registration of medical
professionals and establishments, and (b) for regulation of the technical and
professional standards to be followed in medical practice.
6.
The
existing framework in Karnataka requires private medical establishments and
professionals to (a) conspicuously publish their charges, and (b) adhere to
them. There is no restriction in the present framework on the quantum of
rates/fee that may be charged by private establishments/professionals [See:
Section 10, Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act, 2007, and Section 15,
Karnataka Medical Registration Act, 1961 read with the Code of Medical Ethics
issued by the Medical Council of India in 2002].
7.
However, measures
to regulate the quantum of rates chargeable by medical
establishments/professionals do exist in territories outside the state of
Karnataka. For example, the Clinical Establishments (Central
Government) Rules, 2012, framed under the Clinical Establishments (Registration
and Regulation) Act, 2010, mandate that all registered establishments (which
includes individual doctors) in the territories to which the Act applies, shall
charge for procedures/services within the range of rates determined and issued
by the Central Government from time to time, in consultation with the State
Governments [See: Rule 9(ii), Clinical Establishments (Central Government)
Rules, 2012]. It is pertinent that the Act itself does not contain any
provision related to the regulation of rates (and may therefore be subject to
challenge on grounds of “excessive delegation”).
8.
Under the
Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010, a National
Council has been set up to oversee its implementation. A Sub-Committee to give
recommendations on the range of charges was also formed, and appears to have
submitted its report, but it is presently unclear what the status of
implementation of this report is.
9.
It is
notable however that there is precedent to suggest that the State has no
ability to introduce price control measures through Rules when the parent Act
does not provide for the same. Notifications/Rules have been struck down in the
past on grounds of "excessive delegation”. Whilst the constitutional
validity of the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010
has been upheld by the Delhi High Court, the said Act and the Rules do not
appear to have been tested before any court on the ground of excessive
delegation (or even otherwise on the constitutionality of imposing rate regulation
on private medical establishments/professionals).
10.
It is
worth cautioning that while there is no legal precedent specific to price
regulation of medical establishments/professions, challenges to price/fee
regulation in other fields have not met with considerable success in the
past. The High Courts and Supreme Court have time and again upheld the
competence of the Centre and States to regulate rates/fee as a “reasonable
restriction” under Article 19(6) of the Constitution, if the same is found to
be in greater public interest.
11.
For
example, the Supreme Court has categorically outlawed “commercialization” in
the field of education, whilst holding the same to be predominantly
“charitable” in nature. It has specifically prohibited the charging of “capitation
fees” for admission into any educational institution (including
private unaided educational institutions) and has upheld
legislative/administrative action to fix and regulate the fees that may be
charged. Such regulation has been held to be a “reasonable restriction”
in “public interest” under Article 19(6) of the Constitution. Landmark
judgments occupying this field include:
a.
TMA Pai
Foundation v. State of Karnataka
b. Islamic Academy v. State of Karnataka
c.
PA Inamdar
v. State of Maharashtra
d. Modern Dental College
v. State of Madhya Pradesh
12.
By way of
another example, in Deepak Theatre v. State of Punjab
“Witnessing a motion picture
has become an amusement to every person; a reliever to the weary and fatigue; a
reveler to the pleasure seeker; an importer of education and enlightenment
enlivening to news and current events; disseminator of scientific knowledge;
perpetrator of cultural and spiritual heritage, to the teeming illiterate
majority of population. Thus, cinemas have become tools to promote welfare of
the people to secure and protect as effectively as it may a social order as per
directives of the State Policy enjoined under Article 38 of the
Constitution. Mass media, through motion picture has thus become the vehicle of
coverage to disseminate cultural heritage, knowledge, etc. The passage of time
made manifest this growing imperative and the consequential need to provide
easy access to all sections of the society to seek admission into theatre as
per his paying capacity. Though the right to fix rates of admission is a
business incident, the appellant having created an interest in the general
public therein, it has become necessary for the State to step in and regulate
the activity of fixation of maximum rates of admission to different classes, as
a welfare weal. Thereby
fixation of rates of admission became a legitimate ancillary or incidental
power in furtherance of the regulation under the Act.”
13.
It is
notable that the governmental responsibility to improve public health finds
place in the Directive Principles of State Policy set out in the Constitution
(Article 47). It is furthermore notable that the Supreme Court/High
Courts have upheld the right to health as a part of the right to life under
Article 21 of the Constitution, and have observed that improvement to public
health is one of the “primary duties” of the State. There is also language in
the Code of Ethics framed by MCI as well as the Oath taken by all medical
professionals that will go a long way in establishing the public nature and
interest in these services. [See: Mukhtiar Chand v. State of Punjab (1998) 7
SCC 79, Rajasthan Pradesh VS Sardarshahar v. Union of India (2010) 12 SCC 609,
Delhi Medical Association v. Principal Secretary, Health 229 (2016) DLT 322].
14.
We should
challenge the Rules framed under the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010, given
the availability of other stronger legal grounds (including “excessive
delegation”) for getting the provision related to rate regulation/price control
struck off as ultra vires the parent Act. This will help us get audience in
court, and will allow us to raise challenge based on Article 19(1)(g) of the
Constitution as well. If and when the Karnataka legislation is passed, it may
be easier to club the challenge (based on the language used in the
statute/notification etc.) to this.
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