A Doctors Day special webcast held on the legal and ethical aspects governing the medical profession

A Doctors Day special webcast held on the legal and ethical aspects governing the medical profession IMA & HCFI raise awareness about medical negligence and the ethical duties that all medical professionals must follow New Delhi, June 30, 2016: The field of ethics studies principles of right and wrong. There is hardly an area in medicine that doesn't have an ethical aspect. The medical profession was, is and will always remain a noble one. The job of doctor is to help reduce suffering. The first oath that a doctor takes upon entering the profession is: "A physician shall uphold the dignity and honor of his profession” and the first declaration they make is "I solemnly pledge myself to consecrate my life to service of humanity." However in today’s day and age, we witness a high degree of commercialization in the medical field. Cases of medical negligence, unethical promotion and misconduct are not uncommon. This has brought the entire medical profession into question. What we must remember is that there are black sheep in every profession and without trust and belief in the system of medicine, it is not possible for a doctor to effectively do his duty of helping save lives. Stressing on the urgent need raise awareness about the duty of every medical professional to uphold the ethics and duties that govern them and to reinstate the nobility of the profession, IMA and Heart Care Foundation of India organised a webcast today. The expert faculty for the same consisted of Dr. Arun Gupta – President Delhi Medical Council, Dr. Girish Tyagi- Registrar Delhi Medical Council and Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal – President HCFI & Honorary Secretary General IMA. The webcast was assisted by Dr. V K Monga, Dean IMA CGP. Speaking about the same, Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal – Honorary Secretary General IMA and President HCFI said, “We are committed to making the medical system in our country more transparent and efficient. It is for this reason that we constantly strive to educate member of the medical fraternity about the ethics that govern the profession. We urge the entire medical fraternity to abide by the MCI regulations and maintain the nobility of the profession. We also urge the public to understand that doctors’ work towards the benefit of the society and they must be trusted. The increasing incidence of violence against doctors, no cap on compensation in cases of medical negligence cases as well as the enforcement of acts such as the PCPNDT act only deter doctors from doing their job of saving lives effectively. Doctors must be respected and trusted.” The Medical Council of India states terms like pardon, warning and censure for differnet cases of mild human negligence by Doctors where the council can give a second chance to the doctors without ruining their medical career. However, these should be applied in cases involving no criminal offence. Calculating from the shortage of doctors in every hospital in repect to the number of patients, a doctor at an average gets 5 minutes per patient. In these 5 minutes, he is required to wash his/her hands twice - before and after checking the patient, take the entire medical history of the patient, examine them in an effective manner and prescribe the relevant treatment. In just 5 minutes, miscommunication and mistakes are bound to happen. It is crucial that more focus is laid on increasing the number of seats for medical professionals, regularly training doctors through CMEs on new treatments and diseases as well as encouraging more people to enter the profession. Adding to this, Dr Arun Gupta, President Delhi Medical Council said,”Indulging in unethical acts leads to the defamation of the whole profession. It is the respobsiity of all medical professionals to adhere to their ethics and for patients to respect their doctors.” Dr. Girish Tyagi, Registrat Delhi Medical Council said, “10-20% of the complaints received by the Council pertain to the violation of ethics. Over 90% of the medical negligence cases are the result of the shortage of doctors as well as mis-communication not only between doctor-patient but also between patient-counsellor and patient-chemist.” Miscommunication due to time constraints leads to the dissatisfaction of patients. For instance when prescribed a CT scan the doctor might recommned a particular lab because the scans their emit minimal radiation levels. Because of the time constraint, the doctor in most cases would not communicate this to the patients. In turn the patient might feel that the doctor gets a cut from the centre and that is why they have recommended it. It is thus important for patients to trust their doctor. A few tips for doctors to safeguard themselves against cases of medical negligance 1. Doctors should communicate properly and be empathatic towards the patients. 2. Conversations between doctors and patients should be video taped for future references. 3. Consent form should be crisp and precise so that terms and conditions are clearly understood by the patients to avoid any confusions. 4. In cases where a MLC is to be made the police should be informed at the earliest.

IMA, DMC and HCFI appeal to the medical fraternity to actively prescribe staying away from active and passive smoking to all their patients

IMA, DMC and HCFI appeal to the medical fraternity to actively prescribe staying away from active and passive smoking to all their patients New Delhi, May 30, 2016: According to the World Health Organization, tobacco consumption is the second leading cause of death and fourth leading cause of diseases worldwide. As per the recently released Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-India 2010), about 35 per cent of the adults in India consume tobacco in some form or the other.
“Tobacco use can trigger an onset of life-threatening non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like ischemic heart diseases, cancers, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and its increasing incidence must be curbed. The Delhi Medical Council, Heart Care Foundation of India & Indian Medical Association have jointly sent out a communication to members of the medical fraternity requesting them to actively prescribe refraining the use of all tobacco products as well as to stay away from smoke filled environments to each and every patient”, said Dr Arun Gupta – President DMC and Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal – President HCFI and Honorary Secretary General IMA.
IMA and HCFI have also written to the Health and Finance Ministry to consider treatment of tobacco de-addiction under the list of income tax exemptions. They also want them to consider giving concessions to non-smokers Mediclaim premium and include smoking de-addiction in the Mediclaim policy.
They have also appealed to the Chief Minister and Health Minister of Delhi to tweet on World No tobacco day asking general public to exercise their rights and ask smokers not to smoke in front of them.
Recently we had also sent an appeal to Honorable Health Minister of Delhi, Shri Satyendar Jain requesting him to declare May 31st as a dry tobacco day in the city. They had recommended a complete ban on the sale of all tobacco products including cigarettes, gutka, hookah and e-cigarettes for a period of 24 hours, said Dr Girish Tyagi Registrar DMC. 
World No Tobacco Day is observed across the globe on May 31st every year. It is aimed at encouraging people to abstain from consuming tobacco for 24 hours and raising awareness about the hazardous effects of tobacco consumption on a person’s health and well-being. Tobacco use is responsible for nearly 6 million deaths each year worldwide, 600,000 of which are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.
IMA & HCFI also released the following policies 1. All IMA meetings to be tobacco free 2. Charity begins at home - Doctors should not smoke or consume tobacco 3. While writing a prescription, a doctor should write 'No Passive smoking' before the prescribed drugs column 4. Tobacco consumption is a disease and has to be treated by doctors 5. Tobacco de-addiction should be covered by CGHS, PSUs, Mediclaim 6. Income Tax exemption should be given to de-addiction treatment 7. In Mediclaim, insurance premium should be lower for non smokers and should be reduced for those who quit smoking 8. IMA meetings should be e-tobacco free 9. All IMA meetings should also be hookah free

IMA, DMC and HCFI appeal to the medical fraternity to actively prescribe staying away from active and passive smoking to all their patients

IMA, DMC and HCFI appeal to the medical fraternity to actively prescribe staying away from active and passive smoking to all their patients

New Delhi, May 30, 2016: According to the World Health Organization, tobacco consumption is the second leading cause of death and fourth leading cause of diseases worldwide. As per the recently released Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS-India 2010), about 35 per cent of the adults in India consume tobacco in some form or the other.

“Tobacco use can trigger an onset of life-threatning non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like ischemic heart diseases, cancers, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and its increasing incidence must be curbed. The Delhi Medical Council, Heart Care Foundation of India & Indian Medical Association have jointly sent out a communication to members of the medical fraternity requesting them to actively prescribe refraining the use of all tobacco products as well as to stay away from smoke filled environments to each and every patient”, said Dr Arun Gupta – President DMC and Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal – President HCFI and Honorary Secretary General IMA.

IMA and HCFI have also written to the Health and Finance Ministry to consider treatment of tobacco de-addiction under the list of income tax exemptions. They also want them to consider giving concessions to non-smokers Mediclaim premium and include smoking de-addiction in the Mediclaim policy.

They have also appealed to the Chief Minister and Health Minister of Delhi to tweet on World No tobacco day asking general public to exercise their rights and ask smokers not to smoke in front of them.

Recently we had also sent an appeal to Honorable Health Minister of Delhi, Shri Satyendar Jain requesting him to declare May 31^st as a dry tobacco day in the city. They had recommended a complete ban on the sale of all tobacco products including cigarettes, gutka, hookah and e-cigarettes for a period of 24 hours, said Dr Girish Tyagi Registrar DMC. 

World No Tobacco Day is observed across the globe on May 31^st every year. It is aimed at encouraging people to abstain from consuming tobacco for 24 hours and raising awareness about the hazardous effects of tobacco consumption on a person’s health and well-being. Tobacco use is responsible for nearly 6 million deaths each year worldwide, 600,000 of which are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

IMA & HCFI also released the following policies

1.      All IMA meetings to be tobacco free

2.      Charity begins at home - Doctors should not smoke or consume tobacco

3.      While writing a prescription, a doctor should write  'No Passive smoking' before the prescribed drugs column

4.      Tobacco consumption is a disease and has to be treated by doctors

5.      Tobacco de-addiction should be covered by CGHS, PSUs, Mediclaim

6.      Income Tax exemption should be given to de-addiction treatment

7.      In Mediclaim, insurance premium should be lower for non smokers and should be reduced for those who quit smoking

8.      IMA meetings should be e-tobacco free

9.      All IMA meetings should also be hookah free