YDA strike violates Hippocratic oath, Constitution, says LHC judge
He said the oath of doctors does not allow them to go on strike, and that by doing so they have disgraced the oath by violating it.
Justice Ahsan gave these remarks while hearing a petition seeking directions for cancelation of practice licenses and scrutiny of degrees for the doctors participating in the ongoing strike, denying to treat patients at government hospitals, eventually resulting in the death of several patients.
“The doctors can’t go on strikes after leaving the patients unattended. They have been bounded by their oath to treat the patients whenever they will come for treatment,” Jutstice Ahsan further observed.
Justice Ahsan issued notice to Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), Punjab government and Young Doctors Association (YDA) for their reply by the next hearing on July 6.
Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique, who filed the civil miscellaneous application in his already pending petition challenging the strikes of doctors, contended that the strike was against the spirit of fundamental rights and also negated the sanctity of medical profession. The petitioner requested the court to cancel the licenses of young doctors who are on strike.
“If a patient dies due to the strike of young doctors, they should be accused for the death and stern action must be taken against them,” the petitioner said. It further added that the PMDC should also investigate whether degrees of the young doctors had been acquired from accredited educational institutions or not.
During the course of hearing on Tuesday, a provincial law officer submitted that the issue of strike by doctors was also pending before the Supreme Court of Pakistan which had restrained the doctors from going on strike.
“To go on strike despite clear orders of the superior judiciary is a contempt of court,” the law officer argued.
COMMENTS (28)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
And where do we go when the courts break the law?
People-authority and the so called literate and the intellectuals- tell us of the Hippocrates Oath to make us realize that we might be something more than a human while actually proving us less than a human. My advice is atleast try to be a human so that maybe then we might also treat you as one!
@jibran yes you have right to quit but Pay Millions of rupees back that nation spend on your education ........
@ babar khan & other Doctor brothers & sisters; : how can you say that your demands are right ???? you already have a well protected job and a huge salary. you enjoy the service protection under "civil servants rules ". you already have a well to do service structure. your pay is far more than the Army officers, CSP officers and other executive officers. Still you cry and demand MORE !!!!! You have developed a habit of playing with lives of people. If the government of Punjab accepts your demands, you would go for another strike next year, asking for more perks and privileges. I know most of you are sorry for this idiotic step of yda but when you play with the people, you have to listen the music.... ;-)
Do judges ever wonder the oaths they took for provision of justice?!
Sharif Courts are coming to their aid once more: even a child could tell that refusing to perform a job does not exactly entail jail time but here we are Punjab government detaining doctors illegally with the Courts coming to their help in violation of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.
Dear PCO judges, heard of habeas corpus?!
No one is trying to force doctors into forced labour. If they don't like the pay they can change their profession. So the others can take their place. If they want to stay within their profession then they have an obligation to save lives and help sick and needy.There are other methods they can use to achieve the pay rise other than letting people die. These doctors should be ashamed of their action. They are behaving like butchers. They should be held responsible if anyone dies because of their selfish actions. This society pays for their education. They have an obligation to pay back by treating the sick.
This is utter misgovernance and state terrorism! Any sane mind, any unbiased observer would deem the demands of young doctors right. What they are demanding is a protected job and future and is this wrong? As for strike, it should not have happened but I think they have been pushed to wall after several deceptions by the nincompoop people at helm of affairs in Punjab government. Even in UK, just 2 weeks ago more than 100 thousand doctors threatened strike and UK government has to accept their rightful demands. Those who are criticizing the young doctors have not understood their plight and those quoting Hippocrates's oath not know a word about it. Very sad that the top cream of nation, the young professionals are being treated as captives of war! Another shameful chapter for the shameless added to history!
Please allow me to be little emotional here, these shameless doctors are being supported by their brainless supporters, instead of valuing human lives, these supporters are blind in their political hatred. Instead of being with hostage patients, they are deliberately aligning themselves with strike mafia.
@Obaid: not all doctors are towing the line of YDA. They are a disgrace to our profession, and should have their licenses revoked. If money were such a HUGE matter, they should have joined private practice. Killing patients is what they are doing. I cannot understand how a doctor can stand that?? How can you ever call yourselves doctors?? You are disgracing our profession! Your reasoning infuriates me and all sane people... Utterly disgusting!
@Obaid: very simple example, that wise the CJ SC, took out his Doctor son from health & put him into Police .....!!!!!
i fully support the demand of service structure for doctors, if institutions like army, police and dmg have service structure, then why not health services... why are doctors put on the pedastal when it comes to giving something to them, it suddenly becomes against their dignity to ask for a better and predictable life... a small negligence or human error suddenly brings them down and thrown in dust... if everything else in the world has changed, then hippocratic oath can also be amended.... justice used to be blind, now it has eyes... armies used to fight for pride, honor( and booty), now they fight for salaries, perks and promotions... teachers used to teach just to spread light and earn respect, now even qari sahib's charge money for teaching the Quran... and there is nothing wrong with that... after all barter trade is non existant, and paper money loses its value every day... countries which do not value their brains and hands are generally doomed... we have seen heavy brain drain due to this nonchalant attitude of the higher ups...the sole cause of the problem is puny health budget, as compared to other expenditures, for instance, budget allocated for the parliament, or army... i am a doctor too, and a lucky one because i never worked for the govt set up.. i work on voluntary basis, and fully understand that not everyone can do that if they have families to support... i will never go and fill up a seat emtied by removing a protesting doctor... whatever they are doing will go a long way for the following generations. i also wish that there was a way to do it in a manner that patients did not suffer, and no matter what media portrays, no doctor intentionally wants to make their patients suffer.
@Omer: well said...
I have never seen or heard about any kind of oath.
This is the future of all students in a country run by Sharifs. If you want change, reject these tyrants who operate under the garb of democracy. Vote for change!
What about the oaths of politicians who swear to serve Pakistan. Shariffs and Bhuttos have probably killed more Pakistanies than the YDA ever can!
when did the judiciary become immune to all sorts of criticism? contempt of court? seems like everything thing is contempt of court these days. the judiciary has become a decadent and toothless body exercising authority on the weak while nudging and winking at the elite. although the concept is essential and noble but implementation and actual power of getting things done is lacking. why did the court not take action when punjab govt failed to fulfill their promises to the YDA? who authorized the arrests of young doctors which set alight a fire in the chest of every young doctor in the country leading them to close opds in kpk and balochistan? do these lawyers and judges know anything about the plight of a young Doc? can they take care of patients by themselves? thier job is much easier than the job of a doc and i must say much less important aswell. and if that qualifies as contempt of court them i am guilty. they forget that when they will one day get sick or be on their deathbed they will also remember those docs that they once condemned.
you must give priority and allocate sufficient funds to the healthcare sector if u really care about poor patients not arrest underpaid and overworked young doctors who were protesting against their work environment. they are not your slaves. why would anyone want to become a doctor in pakistan or stay in pakistan after becoming a doctor after seeing the contempt of the medical profession conducted by the govt and the courts.
What i don't understand is that why is it such a difficult task for the health dept to form a normal service structure? Are we doctors not entitled to good promotions and a good lifestyle? What I don't get is that the public will start screaming at the injustice done to them. Why do they not see the injustice done to us, doctors? The people who give up their personal lives, families, children and sleep to help these people why can't these people for once stand by us and demand our welfare too? Why does the LHC forget the action taken by the Punjab govt against doctors? Is that no violation of the human rights we are so taught of? these people are humiliating such a noble and a respectable profession. .
Down with Petition Mafia!!!! The easiest way to handle the situation now-a-days is negociations
Is there a limit to the extant these courts can support Sharifs THIS OATH HAS NO LEGAL VALUE IT IS JUST AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL TRYING TO SUBJUGATE DOCTRS WILL NOT WORK JUDGES MUST REMEBER THEIR OATH TO CONSTITUTION WHICH THEY ARE FAILING TO KEEP
And what about the bonded labor? If I am not paid the salary of my liking, do I have the right to quit job?
Below is the Excerpt of Modern Hippocratic Oath and decide on your own that they are violating it or not???
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow;
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.
I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body, as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection hereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.
there is no limit to greed. it forms of seven deadly sins