Private hospitals exaggerating GRH deaths: Government doctors

MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA), Madurai, has come down heavily on private hospitals in the city for exaggerating the three deaths at the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) on May 7 and said that it was for “ulterior motives”.
In a statement, the TNGDA claimed that the “exaggeration of an accident or even a lapse” would lead to the public lose hope on government hospitals and added that demands for compensation already led to many false claims of negligence and harassment of doctors.
“Public losing faith on government hospitals, in the long run, may be forced to adopt unscientific practices or mobilise funds to pay for unaffordable treatment at big private hospitals,” the statement said.
Madurai district president of TNGDA, Dr K Senthil said that though the association would welcome a detailed inquiry into the deaths and even stern action against those responsible if at all there was any lapse, it was strongly against private hospitals trying to spread exaggerated allegations.
“It is unfortunate that the chairman of a corporate hospital has filed a public interest litigation case in which there is also a mention about the three deaths. Preliminary inquiry says the death wasn’t due to power outage and it looks like it was just an accident,” he added.
The TNGDA also criticised some private doctors, who “alleged cover-up of the incident and called for agitations.”