Draconian Law 21 St Century

A new medicare Bill proposed by the Karnataka government has brought the battle between private medical practitioners and the government out in the open.While the State government expects to keep a control on doctors’ fees, drug prices and hospital charges and to fix responsibility for medical negligence through the KPME Bill, doctors opposing it apprehend that it could open up a ‘license raj’ system in the medicare field.
‘Draconian’

Doctors representing hospital chains as well as individuals that BusinessLine spoke to pointed out that the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act (KPME) is draconian, and would accentuate their woes. These developments come in the backdrop of patients struggling with rising healthcare costs. According to a National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report, hospital admission is three times as costly in a private hospitals as in a government facility. In some cases, for an obstetrics or neonatal case, seven times and childbirth costs eight and a half times more in private hospitals than in government ones.

The Karnataka government seems to have taken cognizance of this fact and has included provisions in the Bill which includes fines and imprisonment if a surgery goes wrong, fixing prices of specific medical procedures as well as creating a new grievance redressal cell.

Protest staged

Around 45,000 private clinics, hospitals and diagnostic centres on Friday held a protest that comes ahead of this month's Assembly session when the Bill will be tabled.

Devi Shetty, Founder & Chairman, Narayana Health, in a statement said that while patients have state medical council, criminal, civil courts and the likes, as per the provisions of KPME, doctors do not have the right to represent themselves in the court of law.

BS Ajaikumar, Chairman and Chief Executive of HCG, which owns a chain of cancer hospitals, said quality of care is important and if the government determines everything from price fixing to arbitration, it can be detrimental to patients.

“Cheap care does not equal to quality care. It is like going to a five-star hotel and demanding tea for ₹20,” he said.

Others point out that there are sufficient redressal options that can be strengthened to address patient concerns.