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Strikes by Physicians in Public Hospitals in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2000

SUNIL K. PANDYA
Affiliation:
Seth G.S. Medical College and K.E.M. Hospital in Bombay Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre in Bombay

Abstract

Can strikes by resident doctors training to become consultants in Indian public-sector teaching hospitals be ethical? These hospitals were established for the medical care of the very poor in a country where health insurance and a national health service are nonexistent. In such a situation, the paralysis of tertiary healthcare centers by striking doctors runs contrary to the raison d'être of the profession. It also violates the first dictum of medicine: Primum, non nocere. And although there is some discussion in the Western literature on strikes by doctors, authorities in India are silent on the subject.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2000 Cambridge University Press

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