Doctors must show compassion to poor people who cannot afford treatment in big hospitals: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court was on Tuesday irked to note rampant incidents of patients being denied proper treatment in civic and government-run hospitals..A Bench of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh J Shastri said the doctors must be sensitive and show compassion to patients, especially poor citizens who cannot afford treatment in big hospitals."Only poor people go to civic or government hospitals as they cannot afford costly treatment in big hospitals. These are the people, who require real compassion and real good treatment...Doctors take Hippocratic oath and we don't know how they live upto it," the Chief Justice remarked. .The Court made the observations while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighting two incidents wherein pregnant women in labour were denied treatment or admission in civic hospitals.As per the PIL, a civic hospital in Ahmedabad had denied treatment to a woman who lost her child after delivery. Another incident took place in Anand district, where a poor woman was forced to deliver her child under the stairs of the hospital. .The government counsel urged the Bench to look into affidavits that encapsulated how the incidents took place and what action has been taken in the said cases. The judges, however, refused to peruse the affidavits. "We have seen this even earlier. This issue is rampant as there have been numerous incidents of patients being denied admission or treatment. This (contentions in affidavit) is like you cry and we will wipe your tears or you scratch my back and I will scratch yours," the Chief Justice observed. .The Court made it clear that it would not leave the issue unaddressed, and said unless stern action was taken, the authorities would not learn. "We cannot leave this serious issue like this. We will constitute an independent committee to look into the issue and conduct a proper inquiry. Let there be one lady IAS and one lady IPS officers in this committee, which would be headed by a retired judge of this Court," the Bench clarified. It thus constituted a committee to be chaired by Justice Harsha Devani, who was a judge of the High Court from October 2004 to March 2020. The committee would also comprise Laveena Sinha, who is presently the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Ahmedabad and Rashmi Mohan, who is an IAS officer in the State. The matter will be next heard after eight weeks.