About Us
Our Mission:
The main aim of PBT India is to eradicate medical negligence and promote corruption-free healthcare in India. We intend to accomplish this goal by working on 3 broad areas:
1. Help Victims to fight for Justice – We provide them with information on the various avenues they have got in finding justice and the procedures for doing the same. We put victims in touch with other victims who have gone down a similar path so they can learn from past experience. We introduce them to medical and legal experts who can help them in their battle. We also lend support to their cases in appropriate forums so that we maximize the chance of justice getting done. Please see our victims sections for more.
2. Public Watch dog – There are several government and quasi-government entities that are entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring quality of healthcare system in India. These include the Union and State Ministries of Health, the Medical Council of India and the various state medical councils. We act as a public watch dog in ensure that these institutions are functioning effectively in preventing medical negligence. Please see our pending RTI applications & PIL actions for more.
3. Improve Legislative, Regulatory & Legal Framework – Our laws pertaining to healthcare and the effectiveness with which those are enforced need a lot of work. We actively work with the various legislative and regulatory bodies to ensure that effective laws and regulations are put in place. We work through these bodies and through the judicial system to ensure effective implementation of them. Please see our pending RTI applications & PIL actions for more.
Most of us have lost our loved ones to very careless and negligent actions of doctors. Our world gets turned upside down when we were least expecting it. The doctor and hospital that inflicted this enormous pain on us go completely unpunished. That is when the injustice of it all hits you in the head. There are three key reasons why this is an monumental social issue: it is prevalent; it has devastating implications; justice is almost impossible.
Why Medical Negligence
1. It’s prevalent: Until you become a victim, most people don’t notice how prevalent this issue is. WHO estimates that Medical Errors is top 10% of killers in the world. With the number of victims coming to PBT India for help and the almost daily news items on incidence of medical negligence, it would be fair to say that thousands of lives are lost every month due to medical negligence. Those are not just numbers. Those are lost fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, daughters, sons and relatives.
2. It has devastating implications: When Medical Negligence happens, our world turns upside down. It is not something that we can fix with time or money. In most cases, this happens when we are least expecting to lose our loved ones. And the pain is ongoing. Wives who have lost the companionship of their husband. Parents who miss the affectionate embrace of their kids. Kids growing up without the guidance of a dad or the affection of a mom. The shock and the pain can’t be expressed in words.
3. Justice is almost impossible: Fairness requires that people who acted in a negligent manner and caused enormous pain to others should be punished appropriately. In India today, it is almost impossible to find a doctor negligent. Doctor’s don’t testify against other doctors. Benefit of doubt is given to the doctor and not to the victim. Even if a doctor is found guilty, the punishment is nebulous. In India, we rarely see doctors losing their license for negligent actions. The injustice of it all is unfathomable.
Most people realize it after becoming a victim. But, we want everyone to realize it beforehand. The possibility of losing our sons and daughter to a very careless and negligent doctor is real and high. Is that a world we want our sons and daughters to live in?
Our Story:
PBT India was inaugurated on 30th December, 2001 at the Netaji Subash Institute, Sealdah by the founding President Dr. Kunal Saha from USA. What started as a fight for justice by an individual (Dr. Saha) against medical malpractice for the wrongful death of his wife Anuradha, has now turned into a mass movement against the pervasive malpractice across the country.
Anuradha, an India-born USA citizen died in the most incomprehensible manner during a social visit to India at an age of only 36 and at the beginning of a productive career as a Child Psychologist. She graduated from the prestigious Columbia University in New York City in 1998 just before her last trip to India. Please read Kunal and Anuradha story.
In a historic judgment on “medical negligence” delivered on August 7, 2009, the Supreme Court of India found 4 doctors and Advanced Medicare Research Institute (AMRI) in Kolkata guilty for negligent treatment causing death of Anuradha. The Apex Court held senior medicine specialists Dr. Sukumar Mukherjee, Dr. Abani Roychowdhury, senior dermatologist Dr. Baidyanath Halder, physician Dr. Balaram Prasad (associated with the AMRI hospital) as well as the AMRI hospital, responsible for Anuradha’s death. In this SC Judgment, the SC has also laid down many new guidelines and rules that doctors/hospitals must observe for treatment of patients. Please read details of this historic judgment (pdf).
This historical judgment by the Supreme Court of India is a win for PBT and for all Indian citizens who until now stood silently with no hope for justice against the delinquent doctors of India who stayed above the law and continued the practice of wrongful medicine without any fear. We hope that this judgment will stimulate sweeping changes to bring honesty and transparency in the medical community and specially in the medical councils who have the noble duty to judge impartially the complaints against doctors and to stop malpractice in India. Dr. Anuradha Saha’s case has created momentum among the victims of medical negligence to join together to eradicate it from India.
