Duty to treat all
Written by Writer on Thursday, October 9th, 2008
Duty to treat all
Chulalongkorn Hospital has moved quickly to disavow doctors who refuse to treat sick or injured police officers, saying they could be acting unethically, and risk professional punishment. MEDICAL ETHICS
By Post Reporters
NOTE: In a related incident, Thai Airways International has set up a committee to investigate a pilot who refused to allow three Members of Parliament on his flight because they are from the ruling People Power party. Click here to read this story.
Chulalongkorn hospital executives have disavowed moves by doctors not to treat injured police officers in a protest over the violent reaction to disperse demonstrators on Tuesday.
The hospital, which works under the auspices of the Thai Red Cross Society, has a duty to treat all patients regardless of their political leanings, hospital deputy director Tirapong Jaroenwit insisted yesterday.
“Our team of 400 medical staff treat people from all walks of life, be they soldiers, police or ordinary people,” Dr Tirapong said.
Doctors at Chulalongkorn’s Faculty of Medicine, led by Suthep Kolchanwit, said they would take a “social position” against the police by deciding not to treat officers wounded during the bloody crackdown on supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD).
They asked doctors at medical faculties at Thammasat, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Ramathibodi, Siriraj, Srinakharinwirot and Prince of Songkla universities to follow suit and they had agreed, Dr Suthep said.
The doctors are unhappy with Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat who carried on announcing his government’s policies in parliament even as people were being severely injured outside.
Mr Somchai was criticised by the doctors for not taking responsibility.
“Our measure of not treating the police is not a severe action,” Dr Suthep said. “We’ll return to treating them when the government and the police take responsibility.”
Some medical staff who were at the clash scene accused the police of preventing them from taking injured people to hospital.
“My friend even took a blood-soaked patient from an ambulance to show the police and asked them to make way for us, but they didn’t,” said volunteer nurse Jiraporn Powongwanit.
Tear gas was also fired at the ambulance, she said.
Doctors at the Police General hospital slammed the Chulalongkorn hospital doctors for their unethical decision.
“I understand they are angry with police, but the constitution says doctors cannot deny giving treatment to the sick,” said senior physician Pol Lt-Gen Somyos Dimak.
He warned the doctors could be acting unethically and risked being punished.
