Palamu doctors are facing criminal cases in Daltonganj over alleged violations of the Clinical Establishments Act, prompting the local Indian Medical Association to warn that private hospitals and nursing homes may become more reluctant to treat serious patients.
The Palamu chapter of the IMA said cases were registered against four doctors, three medical attendants, an operation theatre technician and unidentified people in two incidents reported within 72 hours this week. The doctors named in the cases include Dr Smriti Singh Kushwaha and Dr Priya Sinha.
The cases have triggered concern within the local medical community about the effect of criminal proceedings on emergency and critical care in Daltonganj. Dr R P Sinha, a senior IMA member, retired government doctor and former civil surgeon of Palamu, said doctors could fear admitting or treating serious patients if a medical mishap later resulted in legal action.
“Things have come to such a pass that doctors in private nursing homes or hospitals may refuse to admit or undertake the treatment of serious or critical patients, fearing such action in the event of a mishap,” Dr Sinha was quoted as saying.
He said the easiest option for doctors could become referring such cases to higher centres in Ranchi or elsewhere. According to him, referrals had already increased as doctors became more apprehensive that their professional skills and abilities could be questioned and their reputations placed at risk.
The concern points to a wider operational challenge for smaller urban healthcare systems: when local facilities refer more critical cases, patients and families may have to travel to larger centres for treatment. The report does not provide figures on the number of referrals, the distance travelled by patients or the capacity available at receiving hospitals in Ranchi.
Dr Sinha also said the trust deficit between patients and doctors had widened. He called on all stakeholders in healthcare to consider the implications of the situation, without suggesting that alleged violations should not be investigated.
IMA Palamu secretary Dr Gaurav Vishal separately alleged that social media had portrayed the medical fraternity in a “wrong and malicious” manner. He referred to a case involving intrauterine foetal death, or stillbirth, which he said had been misrepresented as the death of a newborn and falsely attributed to the nursing home run by Dr Priya.
Dr Vishal described that account as “fake and baseless” and claimed that the doctor had helped save the woman after she suffered a bout of threatened abortion. The claims were made by the IMA and were not independently established in the report. The association said it stood in solidarity with the doctors involved.
The cases relate to alleged violations of the Clinical Establishments Act. The report did not include a response from the police, the complainants or the relevant health authorities, nor did it detail the specific allegations in each case. The immediate issue for Daltonganj’s healthcare network is whether the legal proceedings will affect the willingness of private facilities to accept serious and critical patients.
