This is a significant shift from the commission’s earlier stance that only doctors can approach it with complaints
In a significant shift in stance, the National Medical Commission has agreed to hear complaints from patients who allege that they have faced medical negligence. The decision was taken in the 16th meeting of the commission last September.
In the past the NMC has maintained that only doctors can approach it with complaints. This is the domain of the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of the NMC. There are existing rules that allow EMRB to take up complaints from patients’ families should the respective State Medical Council not act in time but the matter has been under discussion within the commission for some time now.
The minutes for the September 16 meeting of the commission read: ”NMC has agreed that all appeals received by the EMRB will be entertained…Further, with regard to action not being taken by SMCs, on complaints filed by non medicos even after issuance of reminders by the boards. It was decided to send a communication by EMRB to SMCs to complete the process in a time bound manner.” The minutes were obtained by activist Dr K V Babu through a Right to Information application.
Dr Babu has been vocal on the matter for a long time. In past the NMC has rejected applications from non medicos even when they have not been addressed in other fora. Medical Negligence has been a fraught issue in India for lone with citizens often at a loss where to take their complaints to before taking the legal route while doctors’ bodies have been in denial mode, causing an impasse. On the other hand healthcare costs have been on a steep upward trajectory with doctors often blaming defensive medicine – a tendency to do more tests in patients to better defend themselves should there be a litigation in the future.
