New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre and others on a plea highlighting legal and ethical issues posed by live surgery broadcast. A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra issued notice to the Centre and others, including the National Medical Commission (NMC), seeking their replies on a plea filed by Rahil Chaudhary and others.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioners, raised several concerns regarding live demonstration of surgery. He contended that the fact these surgeries were conducted before an audience of up to 800 individuals in medical conferences, who actively participated by asking questions to the surgeon during the procedure. During the hearing, the bench said like an IPL match? The counsel argued that patients were not adequately informed about the procedure. The bench said it is an educational process and it's for the medical board to decide.
The counsel submitted that many patients come from certain sections of society and they are told that an excellent foreign surgeon is coming and they agree and emphasised that it is banned in other countries. The bench noted that while invoking the jurisdiction in the public interest, petitioners have highlighted legal and ethical issues posed by live surgery broadcasts and the petitioners have sought direction from the NMC to appoint a committee to regularly monitor live surgery broadcasts and also frame guidelines regarding this. The apex court posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.
The plea filed through advocate Meenakshi Kalra said the issue requires urgent consideration as many private hospitals are commercially exploring the patients and using them as models to fulfil their ulterior motives and various companies are promoting themselves through this in complete ignorance of the ethical standards laid down for surgery by the National Medical Commission to make a fortune out of the miseries of the exploited patients.
The plea said live surgery raises ethical concerns related to informed consent and patients are seldom informed that the surgeon's attention may be divided by interaction with the audience while conducting the surgery, potentially putting them at risk. The plea alleged that in 2015, the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences), Delhi organised a live surgical broadcast wherein they invited a doctor from Japan to conduct the surgery while broadcasting it live, and the patient on whom the live surgery was being done died due to negligence purported by the broadcasting of the surgery.
The plea contended that it is most respectfully submitted that several general body meetings had clearly voiced their disapproval of live surgical broadcasts within the All-India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS), however, there are now attempts to push through a referendum over an extended weekend, employing a questionable voting system.
“Beyond the technicalities, it is essential to recognise that the fundamental human rights of patients cannot be subject to the whims of a particular group seeking to diminish those rights. This referendum raises legal concerns and requires scrutiny, as it pits the rights of hapless patients against the ambitions and influence of a handful of well-heeled doctors," said the plea.
