Patient for profit?
The Sindh government promulgated the Amal Umer Act on March 11, 2019, but a private hospital in Karachi did not know about the existence of the law or it feigned ignorance till October 21, 2020. Even if the hospital remained uninformed about the law for more than a year and seven months, who is to blame for such a serious lapse with regard to the dissemination of vital information: the government or the hospital administration. The issue is of utmost primacy since it concerns human life.
The matter came to the fore when families of those injured in an explosion in the city on Tuesday took the wounded to a private hospital, whose administration allegedly demanded advanced payment for treatment. The alleged demand for advanced payment before starting treatment was in violation of the Amal Umer Act. The treatment started after two high officials of the Sindh government rushed to the hospital and reminded its functionaries that the provincial government would pay for the treatment.
The law is aimed at eliminating the delay resulting from completion of medico-legal formalities. Before the promulgation of this law, hospitals either refused or were reluctant to provide treatment to injured people before the fulfillment of medico-legal requirements. The law came into being after a 10-year-old girl, Amal Umer, was killed during an exchange of fire between the police and robbers on August 13, 2018. Her parents took her to several hospitals but they allegedly refused to give her treatment. She died due to alleged negligence by the hospitals. Doctors, hospitals or ordinary citizens violating the law are liable to get three years or more in jail or a fine that may exceed Rs500,000, or both.
The present case raises questions about the implementation of the law and also about medical ethics. Is this or any other law merely letters and characters? In provision of medical aid, time is of essence. The greatest good of medicine is health (Summum bonum medicinae sanitas).
Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2020.
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