The Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill, 2017 passed last week by Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal to rein in private hospitals and doctors has not only generated a great deal of public interest in West Bengal because the Bill has several strong provisions aimed at curbing medical negligence and unethical practice by doctors in private hospitals including possible charge for “culpable homicide” by an independent Commission in the event of gross medical negligence, it has also exposed the shameless stance of IMA which is solely dependent on their political affiliation but nothing to do with welfare for the patients or improving the badly tarnished doctor-patient relationship. The Bill has been sharply criticized by Dr. K.K. Aggarwal, president of national IMA in Delhi which is known to be heavily populated by doctors belonging to the BJP. In sharp contrast, IMA leaders in Kolkata, all of whom are backed by the Mamata Banerjee’s ruling Trinomool party, have nothing but high praise for the same Bill (see front-page news in The Telegraph below). The true color of IMA, the largest doctor-only club in India, is crystal clear from this sharply opposing views of the same Bill. Our doctor-leaders have no principles or moral values as, depending on the day, they would not hesitate to take position whatever serves their selfish personal and political purposes.
