The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns the strike reported to be taking place at the Negombo Government Hospital as baseless, unjust, unprofessional and amounting to holding sick people to ransom in order to avoid their responsibilities and to prevent the operation of the due process of law. The Asian Human Rights Commission further states that nowhere in the world would such completely careless behaviour be tolerated and calls upon the Ministry of Healthcare to take disciplinary action against all persons participating in this strike.
According to a newspaper report the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) Branch Secretary has explained the reason for the strike as the public criticism that has gone on a few months now regarding alleged cases of medical negligence resulting in serious injuries to some patients. It is reported that accept for emergency operations, doctors will not do any other work relating to patients during the strike. The demand of the doctors is for the Ministry of Healthcare to stop the public criticism of the doctors and if the Ministry of Healthcare does not intervene the doctors union has threatened to continue the strike indefinitely. In recent months there has been a series of allegations from patients who claim that they have suffered serious injuries as a result of maltreatment by some doctors at the hospital. There are also some police inquiries regarding some of the complaints, which may lead to criminal acts under the Sri Lankan penal code. In one case letters of demand have been sent to the relevant doctors on behalf of the aggrieved patients informing of civil action that may be file din court. Meanwhile television, the newspapers in several languages have also reported the grievances of the patients. Among the cases that came to light publicly is the case of a two year old infant who the parents alleged was killed due to a dose of Paracetemol being wrongly admitted; another case is about a mother of two is alleged to have died due to an incorrect blood transfusion. A further case is a miscarriage due to wrong treatment which ended in the death of another mother. Yet another case, which received great publicity, is the alleged amputation of the leg of a patient who came for treatment of a boil on her foot. All these complainants also state that their complaints have not been seriously taken up and that instead there is an attempt to intimidate the complainants. The AHRC notes that in all jurisdictions in the world doctors can be sued for medical negligence. This derives from the basic right that exists against all professionals when they act negligently and cause damage to patients. In fact, there is a huge jurisprudence developed on medical negligence throughout the world.
The AHRC also notes that the citizens of Sri Lanka however poor or week though they may be have the same rights as other people in the world. They are not lesser humans or people at the mercy of any of the professionals including doctors. There are no privileged professions and there is no one above the law or public criticism. If anyone is wrongfully charged or wrongfully criticised they have a right to defend themselves before courts or before public opinion. However, to hold other sick people to ransom to avoid legal obligations or public opinion is completely wrongful and deserves disciplinary action both from professional bodies as well as the government. In the past too some doctors unions have tried to use their power over the sick to get their private grievances addressed. This is an uncivilized practice that should be condemned and not allowed by the public. In the eyes of the world the medical profession in Sri Lanka will be seen with skepticism and even contempt if this type of unreasonable and unethical behaviour is tolerated. The errant doctors have attempted to turn the public criticism against them as an attempt to advocate privatization of hospitals. This attempt to politicise and falsify the criticisms that are made against them, itself manifests that there is no attempt on the part of the doctors to try to look into the grievances allegedly injured patients with any type of reasonableness of sympathy. The simple message of these doctors is that whatever the damage the alleged victims may have suffered they should forget about it and these victims should not be given any support for any concerned persons. Such an appeal is one of a call for barbarism. We urge that it is the obligation of the Ministry of Healthcare to face up to its obligation of taking disciplinary action against all those persons who have violated the rights of citizens to take treatment from a government medical facility. This denial cannot be justified in any way.
