Through detailed reports and meticulous note-taking, negligence can be eliminated, which will save many lives
KARACHI: In just about every field, professionals are required to document their experiences and findings so as to facilitate the next person who joins the profession or works on the same project or case. Similarly, when a task goes awry, each person is held accountable for providing an explanation as to what went wrong and why. However, why are doctors in Pakistan exempt from taking responsibility for their mistakes, such as incorrect diagnoses or other malpractices?
Malpractice in Pakistan can be mitigated if doctors provide diligent, detailed reports for other specialists to pay heed to, when providing care to the same patient. Likewise, we need a heavier focus on research so that practitioners stay updated on the latest findings, with regard to medicines and medical technology, since medicine is a rapidly evolving field with its linkages to the field of science. For the people in our country, this is particularly important as many are not educated enough to even read their own medical charts and reports or articulate to new physicians their experience at a previous doctor’s visit. In a country where we have no malpractice laws to protect vulnerable patients, no patient rights, along with many egotistic doctors believing they are infallible human creatures, this is the most immediate step that can be taken to save more patient lives. Through detailed reports and meticulous note-taking, negligence can be eliminated, which will save many lives.
Muhammad Sohaib Sajjad
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2015.
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