'Most of the doctors receive commissions'

Dr N Sethuraman, founder of Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC), Madurai, as well as the founder president of All India Moovendhar Munnani Kazhagam, on Thursday, openly charged that most of the doctors receive commissions from MRI scan centres for referring patients to them. "Receiving commission from MRI scan centres to refer patients to them is tantamount to accepting bribe. But most of the doctors brazenly commit mistake which denigrate the noble profession," said Dr Sethuraman, during a press conference in connection with the inauguration of 'Meenakshi Hospital Speciality Clinic' at Thillai Nagar in Trichy on Thursday. Asked whether such practice affects the patients, Dr Sethuraman said, "Corruption, which begins from admission for undergraduate and postgraduate medical seats, forces the doctors to indulge in irregularities. So, the entire system should be changed." MMHRC, a major private hospital in Madurai, entered Trichy market which already witnessed a number of private hospitals apart from Mahatma Gandhi memorial government hospital. However, Dr S Gurushankar, chairman of the hospital, said they were not competitors to other hospitals. But their hospital provide better medical care at affordable price for poor people. The specialty clinic will function with two doctors to give emergency treatment from 7am to 9 pm. However, patients will be shifted to their full-fledged hospital in Thanjavur in case of major treatment. Commenting on medical negligence of which the private hospitals are often accused of, Dr Gurushankar said many hospitals failed to communicate properly to relatives of patients about the nature of disease and possibilities of curing. So, people agitate when the treatment failed and accused doctors of medical negligence.