Absent Doctors
Political link keeps them beyond law
Says NHRC chief
No government action is taken against the 30 percent of doctors who remain absent from work because their political affiliation places them above the law, said National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Mizanur Rahman yesterday.
The country's entire healthcare system is commercialised with the state only facilitating the process, he told a views exchange meeting organised by the Law Commission in the capital's Cirdap auditorium.
Discussants at the meeting stressed the need for enacting a law to combat negligence in healthcare and pointed out the hurdles to developing quality health services.
Emphasising the need for controlling the private practice of doctors, Barrister Misbah Uddin asked, “What would happen to the justice system if judges ran private practice in the evening?â€
The majority of barristers, researchers, medical experts and other stakeholders at the meeting agreed that a law was necessary to prevent wrong diagnosis and doctors' negligence.
However, Mizanur Rahman said, “Not even capital punishment will put an end to their negligence unless there is a limit to the private practice by doctors.â€
On why the government hospitals are poorly maintained, he said doctors made more profit when fewer people went to government hospitals.
Victims of wrong diagnosis who filed cases against doctors placed their demands at the meeting, presided over by Law Commission Chairman Prof Dr M Shah Alam.
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