S.No. 2528

PATIENTS’ RIGHT ACT

Under the Constitution, it is declared the policy of the State “to ensure and protect the rights of patients to decent, humane and quality health care”. In line with this, the constitution also states that the state shall endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers.

However, there have been incidents wherein persons were not given medical treatment in hospitals due to their inability to pay. There were also reports of medical malpractices, which resulted in the deaths of a number of patients.

It is because of the aforementioned reasons that this representation filed a bill entitled: An Act Providing the Rights of Patients and Prescribing Penalties for Violations Thereof.

This bill seeks to provide adequate and proper medical care and attention to all persons, especially to the unprivileged. The main objective of this bill is to protect patients from medical malpractice and other forms of negligence. It shall provide the basic rights to patients such as: the right to choose their physicians, the right to leave, and the right to refuse participation in medical research, among others.

When such protections are in place, it is fervently hoped that further incidents of malpractice and patients’ deaths are prevented.

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