Kerala HC decries consumerism's hold over medical profession

KOCHI: 'Money-maniac syndrome' that affects medical profession needs to be taken care of as it results in the poor being denied good treatment, the high court has said.
The observation was made by a division bench comprising Justice V Chitambaresh and Justice Ashok Menon in the judgment on appeals filed by the state government and doctor P Gopinathan, associate professor at Department of Orthopaedics at Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, against the judgment of Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT).
In the judgment the court said, "Medical profession, like any other profession in modern times, become part of consumerist and materialist society. The money-maniac syndrome that afflicts the medical profession has to be taken care of. The poor persons in the society, who come to medical colleges for treatment, are deprived of the best treatment because the doctors are in hunt for greener pastures and lucrative postings in the private sector or abroad and even indulge in private practice; depriving thereby the patients in the lower strata of the society of good treatment at medical colleges and the government hospitals."
Dr Gopinathan was ordered to be removed from service by the state government following a drive launched by it to weed out government doctors who have gone on leave to take up jobs abroad or service in private sector. Dr Gopinath was on medical leave and a medical board had confirmed the diagnosis after examining at his residence as he was unable to appear before the medical board in person. KAT had ordered the government to reinstate Gopinath as no departmental inquiry was conducted against him prior to the order for removal.
In the judgment, the high court pointed out that Dr Gopinath had applied and obtained a US visa for which he must have appeared for a visa interview. "So, it is adequately clear that he was not completely bedridden as claimed by him," the judgment stated. The high court declined to confirm the KAT judgment and asked the government to conduct a formal inquiry against the doctor and take appropriate action, if required.