DEAD BODY

More than 80 per cent cases of negligence and malpractice registered with Gujarat Medical Council have been pending foryears; GMC cries manpower crunch
The Gujarat Medical Council (GMC), a statutory body which is authorised to handle cases related to medical malpractice and negligence, has been twiddling its thumbs for a long time now -more than 80 per cent of the cases registered with the body have been pending for years.

In the past 10 years, more than 1,300 cases have been recorded with the council from various parts of Gujarat. However, only in 223 cases, justice has been delivered.

Last year, in October, Mirror had published a story highlighting the plight of Himesh Vankar who has taken on the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for alleged medical negligence that resulted in the death of his wife. It has been more than a month now and despite running from pillar to post, he is yet to hear from the GMC. Vankar, who is dif ferently abled, forgot all his struggles when he held his baby in his arms for the first time. But the happiness did not last long. His wife Ganga died of septicaemia caused by a surgical swab allegedly forgotten inside her by doctors at Civil hospital.Vankar then wrote to the GMC seeking action against the hospital. “He made several applications under the Right to Information Act (RTI), seeking details of post-delivery care taken by Civil doctors. In every reply, the hospital handed over reports pertaining to just the first day of delivery. I approached the GMC but all efforts seem to be in vain,“ he said.In a reply sent to him last month, GMC stated they held a meeting to discuss his complaint and will hold the next six months later.

“It has been more than a year that I am struggling to get justice. I have submitted all the proof. Then why is it taking them so much time? They haven't called the doctor once and now they have postponed the hearing by another six months,“ he said. When asked for the reason behind these delays, officials stated that they lack adequate manpower required for faster disposal of cases.Talking to Mirror, Dr Nitin S Vora, president, Medical Council of India (Gujarat chapter) said, “There is manpower crunch which leads to cases piling up. We get several cases every month and try our best to dispose of the cases at the earliest.“

People for Better Treatment (PBT) also highlighted an important issue about lack of centralised system to collect data on cases pertaining to negligence filed in the country. Ravish Bhatt, a PBT member, said, “It is impossible to know about the total number of pending cases in any state as no data is maintained by any council. The same issue was also highlighted in 2014 by the parliamentary committee but nothing has been done so far.“