Can doctors withdraw a terminally ill patient’s life-support with the consent of the family? What do hospitals do when patients refuse to pay up or get discharged? Can a doctor legally refuse a patient?
These and several other questions were addressed during a session on law and ethics in medicine during a day-long meet ‘Not Just Meds’ organised by Apollo Hospitals here on Sunday. During the legal session, Supreme Court advocate Mahendra Kumar Bajpai, who specialises in medical law, touched on several issues that often present a dilemma to doctors, hospitals and patients.
“Life-support can be withdrawn only under two conditions. When a person is brain-dead and the family wishes to donate organs, or when a patient is declared to be in a permanent vegetative state, which has to meet a set list of conditions. Simply on the family’s behest, a doctor cannot withdraw life-support,” the advocate said.
Mr. Bajpai also cautioned doctors to restrict or avoid dispensing medical advice over phone, social media or in any other way that puts them at risk of litigation.
Speaking about patient consent, the lawyer said medical fraternity should work to standardise consent forms to ensure that reasonable risks are conveyed to the patient without worrying the latter about unlikely consequences.
Speaking on the need for laws on many fronts pertaining to medical practices, Mr. Bajpai told doctors in the audience that they should seek explicit consent for procedures that may arise from any complications.
“Consent should be obtained a few days before the procedure and not long before it,’ he added.
Earlier in the day, noted medical entrepreneurs from the city leading the biggest healthcare brands, spoke about deficit of patient trust.
“The profession needs to build trust and that brings the best results. Today’s patient is little more educated and tends to question. Doctors should try and patiently respond to questioning attitude of the patients,” said executive vice-chairman of Apollo Hospitals group, Shobana Kamineni.
Talking about trust deficit in doctor-patient relationship, Guruva Reddy of Sunshine Hospitals said tests often prescribed are needed, while B. Somaraju of Care Hospitals called on the medical fraternity to discuss issues that hamper trust-building.
Stress level
M. Gopichand of Star Hospitals suggested that increased insurance coverage would help reduce out-of-pocket costs, which in turn will help build trust. Doctors also said stress level in the Indian medical fraternity is high, but the issue is rarely discussed.
