Self-Regulation through Codes of conduct, Rights and duties of Registered Medical Practitioner, Unethical Acts and Misconduct

An operation goes wrong in a private hospital in Thane. The family is furious and lodges a police complaint against the surgeon. The surgeon says he did everything right and that the police have no business judging surgery. Who is right? The answer depends on two things: the duties the profession itself imposes on the doctor, and the rights and protections the law gives him in return. This topic puts the two side by side.

In two minutes

Self-regulation means the profession makes and enforces its own code of conduct through its councils; the registered medical practitioner carries duties (care, consent, confidentiality, records, emergency aid) and enjoys rights and protections (to practise, to good-faith protection, to fair hearing and safeguards against routine prosecution), and unethical acts or misconduct lead to disciplinary action.

The rest of this chapter

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