9.

ETHICS
9.1. MEDICAL ETHICS
In medical sector the overcharging is rampant, be it in terms of prescription of unnecessary diagnostic tests,
prescription of expensive medicines, inflation of hospital bills or insurance company frauds. Recently, NPPA’s
decision to put a price cap on knee implants also shows degrading medical ethics as hospitals and doctors were
indulging in unethical profiteering. The ethical issues in such unfair pricing can be as follows:
 Low trust - patient-doctor trust is reducing as awareness is increasing about medical malpractices. To reduce
trust gap, initiative like Poona Citizen Doctor Forum could be taken where public database of ethical doctors
is created by patients.
 Shift from service orientation to commercialization – Doctors are given inducements to prescribe expensive
drugs which prompts them to prescribe it even when they are not needed.
 Professional misconduct – It is considered as an unethical conduct under Indian Medical Council
(Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.
 Undermine reputation – It not only undermines reputation of individual doctor or hospital but also hurts
image of India as provider of high quality & affordable healthcare to foreign patients.
 Unfair – It is unfair for the patients who may slip down in poverty due to high expenditure on healthcare
services. It is also an unfair trade practice as it forces industries to collude with hospitals to maintain sales
and remain in competition.
 Promotes greed – Although hospitals should have some margins as it provides facilities such as sterilization,
storage etc. yet margins can’t be exorbitant and irrational. In NPPA report, the average margin on a full set
of orthopaedic implant seems to be 313 per cent.
 Information asymmetry – At times lack of detailed brief about the benefits or limitations of the new
technology, patient opt for the newer and costlier technology just on doctor’s word
As, patient trusts the doctor for his most important thing, that is life, doctors should feel their inherent
responsibility to follow the following medical ethics:
 Patient’s first – Health care is a noble art where doctors should compassionately treat people irrespective of
class, nationality, gender, caste etc.
 Fair charges – which should be known to the patient in advance
 Values of care and trust – Doctors should develop trust with patients and support the patients
psychologically through polite interactions
 Transparency – regarding various treatments available and pros and cons of the same so that patient can
make informed decision
 Confidentiality – personal information shared by patient in the course of treatment should not be disclosed
by the physician
 Professionalism and beneficence- A physician should uphold the dignity and honour of his profession where
his prime objective should be service to humanity
 Sympathy – The doctor should be sensitive to the patient’s pain and sufferings during treatments
This is not to say that doctors should charge bare minimum. Medical practitioners also have a legitimate right to
appropriate levels of remuneration but balance needs to be struck between professional virtues and business
considerations.

9.2. ETHICS OF WINNING IN ELECTION AT ALL COSTS

Free, fair and transparent elections are the hallmark of democracy. This ensures that people have faith in
democracy. For making election ethical, all roleplayers including voters, organisers as well as political parties
should take their duties and responsibility seriously. There should be accountability to people
Election Commissioner recently gave a warning regarding new normal of political morality. It was a brave and
assuring warning that institution of conducting and administering elections recognizes deforming political
culture.
There are various ethical issues involved in placing maximum premium on winning at all costs:

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 Unethical means to achieve ends - such as poaching, bribing of legislators, misuse of state machinery is
being rephrased as smart political management or resourcefulness and has become the new normal of
Indian polity,
 Procedural breach – as has been pointed out by EC in its use of powers under Article 324 to invalidate votes
on account of breach of due process
 Focus on power than serving - Predatory attitude of political parties bring the democratic process to a new
low
 Promotes distrust– among and within political parties as defector is associated with no guilt or possible
criminality.
 Cynicism in public – there would be lack of faith and respect for the election outcome.
 Dominating attitude – Such tactics undermine checks and balances of a constitutional framework and also
can be used by parties later on to suppress dissent.
 Thwarting of democratic principles and rule of law – Increasing importance of money power in elections
may result in policy capture by a handful of people
Degradation of political culture also goes against the values of diversity. It should serve as a reminder to the
institutions about the need to speak up and speak back to the powers and reassert & reclaim their role in a
layered and intricate polity. In general political parties should follow the following ethical principles:
 Transparency – in dealing with all their finances and not resort to bribing which will ensure full trust of
people in electoral process
 Internal democracy – to enable the members to raise their voices and elect leaders who have required
leadership skills as well as good moral character
 Public service spirit – they should put interests of their communities above their own or those of their
parties
 Respecting diversity – The party should be accommodative and they should treat people with respect for
their beliefs & choices
 Honesty and integrity - Be truthful and not mislead people in any way by making false promises. Members
of political parties should make sure that their conduct is above reproach.
 Commitment to work - They should not emphasize on hiring PR firms to shape public opinion online rather
their work should speak for itself
 Emphasizing right means – This means following the rule of law in letter and in spirit.
In fact our political culture needs to be such that it incorporates ethical standards for all the persons involved in
the election process. As of now, it seems that our political culture is hitting a new normal where certain
unethical practices in elections are not witnessing registration of protests by even citizens, the biggest
stakeholder of a democracy. They need to be active part of polity in order to upheld rule of law, liberty, equality
etc.

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