There have been various burning issues plaguing the ophthalmology circles and probably the medical fraternity at
large. Among these, the major ones which can be identified include growing medicolegal cases and violence on doctors. A specific situation for ophthalmology has been the Pre-Conception and Prenatal diagnostic techniques act which has brought under its larger definition, ophthalmic ultrasounds even though these have limited penetration and can’t be used for sex determination. At AIOS, we are working collectively towards getting this ruling clarified by the courts.
Medicolegal cases against medical fraternity and hospitals are also on the rise and we have seen quite a few unjustified situations which cause a sense of defamation to the doctor community. There are simple ways to help reduce the possibility of litigation and these should be in the knowledge of all of us. The medicolegal cell of AIOS can come in handy for managing cases which affect a large number of us and the recent PC-PNDT act is one of them. Violence on doctors is something which needs to be strongly condemned and stringent laws need to be put into place for ensuring that such violence never happens. There have been suggestions by some members who feel that AIOS can formulate a rapid response team in various cities to help respond to such incidents on an urgent basis. This is indeed a good suggestion and we can look at it in association with the local ophthalmic societies so as to be a strong support system for our fellow ophthalmologists.
Another suggestion which had come to the forefront during our interaction with various members in the process of preparing this issue was the need for a common indemnity insurance policy for all AIOS members, at a nominal fee. This would make the individual policy owner much stronger since a group would be affected by a wrong insurance denial. This is something that AIOS could look at implementing.
On the whole, one has to realise that times are tough and we have to get tougher. Change is important but to bring about change, an understanding of what is happening is more important. Keeping this in mind, I hope this issue of AIOS Times brings us upto speed on the burning issues in ophthalmology.
Best Wishes
Prof. (Dr.) Namrata Sharma
Hony. General Secretary, Aios
secretary@aios.org