Condemning the situation where doctors are blamed for shortage of medicines at Telangana government hospitals, Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA) members have said that they are responsible only to check the patient and prescribe the medicines and not for the medicines stocks.
The junior doctors have stressed that they do not get any commissions if medicines are bought by patients in private pharmacies.
At a press conference held in Hyderabad on Tuesday, TJUDA members have raised some questions such as what are they supposed to do when a medicine needed for emergency treatment of a patient is unavailable at government hospital? Isn’t saving the patient important over stopping themselves from prescribing a medicine to be bought outside? Why are private medical shops still allowed to function in government premises?
It is not only junior doctors who are raising the questions. Sources said that senior faculty members too have been discussing the situation and asked what are they supposed to do.
They have pointed at situation at a government hospital in Hyderabad where instructions were given to transfer a pediatrician from Hyderabad to Adilabad. Director of Medical Education K. Ramesh Reddy said that no such action is being taken.
However, it did not stop the questions from doctors. TJUDAs have held a press conference to explain their situation and placed requests to government.
Advisor of TJUDAs M. Rajeev said that if anyone proves that they have prescribed medicines that had to be bought outside though the drugs were available at hospital, they will accept the blame.
General secretary of the association Vanya Jasmine said the issue is that the number of patients at hospitals are more than the available stocks of medicine.
They have requested necessary emergency medicines to be made available in surplus, not to blame them without prior verification.
Senior doctors have said that some of their colleagues are apprehensive to prescribe medicines or other unavailable resources to be bought outside as it could attract punishment from authorities.
Dr Pratibha Lakshmi from Telangana Teaching Government Doctors Association, Indian Medical Association-Telangana chapter president M Sampath Kumar, and others were present on the occasion.
