A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday stayed for three weeks a government order allowing sale of liquor to those suffering from alcoholic withdrawal symptoms on the basis of a prescription given by a government doctor.
The Bench comprising Justice A.K.Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly issued the stay order while admitting a writ petition filed by Dr. G S Vijayakrishnan,General Secretary, Kerala Government Medical Officers' Association(KGMO) challenging the order. According to him, the order required government doctors to certify that a patient was having withdrawal symptom to enable him to obtain a pass for buying liquor from the state beverages corporation's outlets. The government had issued the order in the wake of closure of beverages outlets and bar counters following the lockdown.
The petitioner said that it was a fact that a liquor addict might suffer from Alcohol Dependence Syndrome (ADS) commonly called as “withdrawal symptoms due to non -availability of liquor. The prescription of liquor for such person by a doctor was unethical and went against the the Indian Medical Council(Professional conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.Besides, it was also against the valid guidelines issued by the Health Services Director to deal with the issues of ADS affected persons. In fact, a registered medical practitioner could not refer a patient with ADS to excise officials to fix the quantity of liquor to be sold to him as provided in the order, the petition said.
The order was issued in the context of 10 suicides reportedly committed by persons suffering from alcoholic problems. The petitioner said that no psychological autopsy, or even preliminary inquiry has been conducted to verify the cause of death. In fact, the number of suicides in the state has come down during the last few days, the petitioner said.
