Many patients die every year in Bangladesh for the negligence of healthcare professionals and hospital authorities.
However, under the current legal framework, no codified law exists in the country to deal with medical negligence as well as to ensure remedy.
Legal experts and relatives of many medical negligence victims said that wrong treatment and denial of medical care to patients should come under specific law for remedy and stopping medical malpractice.
In 2013, the Law Commission placed a proposal to enact a separate law to address the widespread allegations of medical negligence in the country. The commission in its proposal explained the necessity of separate medical negligence law, saying that it is inevitable.
The authorities concerned, however, have not taken any initiative in this regard till now, even eight years after placing the proposal.
Chief Research Officer of the Law Commission Fowzul Azim said that the commission recommended enacting a separate law to resolve treatment-related problems, including medical negligence, and to improve the quality of medical services.
The Law Commission in its proposal says, “If we can ensure proper management, hygiene, proper treatment facilities and overall quality control in the government and private hospitals, the chance of medical negligence will reduce. So, enactment of a codified law is needed to prevent medical negligence.”
The commission also says that if special type of civil court runs to deal with medical negligence, there will be more opportunities for dispute resolution and remedies through arbitration.
It has been proved in many countries, including the USA, that disputes over medical negligence are resolved easily through arbitration. However, separate law should remain to ensure proper arbitration, while aggrieved persons can go to the court as a result of serious negligence.
The Law Commission recommended to take measures through enacting law to stop the relationship of physicians with pathology and diagnostic centres and effective action if there is evidence of doctors’ taking fees from these centers.
In the proposal, it was also said that the hospitals or medical centres will have to take liability for the work of physicians, their assistants and other staff. Medical ethics should be studied with more importance in the medical colleges.
SM Masum Billah, a Law teacher at Jagannath University, said that medical negligence has become a serious issue in the country. However, there is now no specific law to prevent medical negligence.
Against this backdrop, the Law Commission’s proposal is driven by the urge of the day. The authorities concerned should take recommendations of the commission with due importance. Otherwise, such commission will become confined within the paperwork, he added.
Advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir, a lawyer of Bangladesh Supreme Court and head of Law Lab, has placed ‘Concept of Medical Negligence and Remedies and Proposals’ for a proper legal framework of health care system. He said that although a number of laws, codes of conduct and policies have already been formulated over the medical profession, these are not sufficient to deal with medical negligence. The concept of medical negligence and its remedy is not clear to the common people, patients and their relatives. Against this backdrop, a codified law should be enacted to prevent the negligence, he added.
Talking to Bangladesh Post on Thursday, Advocate Md Kamruzzaman, a lawyer of Dhaka, said that the current penal law over medical issues is either trivial or vexatious. As a result, malpractice of physicians and medical negligence could not be dealt with properly in absence of a specific law. The Law Commission’s move in this regard is a timely move, but the government’s reluctance is unexpected, he added.
A doctor appears as the savior at the time of ailment. But it is also true that many patients face negligence from doctors and others concerned at hospitals and clinics, which gives a bad impression to this righteous profession. The doctors should be made accountable for their malpractice. So, the necessity of enacting a separate medical negligence law is inevitable, said Advocate Kamruzzaman.
The lawyer, however, said that such law will also help the healthcare professionals as it will help prevent clashes between healthcare professionals and patients as well as their relatives from incidents arising from allegations of malpractice.
Medical negligence is dealt with by law in many other countries. In India, medical negligence is dealt with not only by the court, but also the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC), a quasi-judicial body with significant power.
Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC), the only body where allegations can be filed by any victim, received several hundred allegations in the past ten years. Out of these, only one or two doctors were punished.
In recent years, the higher courts asked the authorities concerned to provide compensation to victims in glaring cases of medical negligence.
In 2020, a High Court bench asked the United Hospital to pay compensation to some families for their negligence in management. In 2017, an HC bench in a Suo Moto ruling directed to pay a victim Tk 9 lakhs in compensation for falsely performing a surgery. In 2011, the higher court directed Labaid Hospital to pay the wife of DU professor Mridul Kanti Chakrabarty for negligence of the hospital.
