Although the West Bengal Clinical Establishment (Regulation and Transparency) Bill, 2017, is viewed as a step in the right direction to introduce transparency, trust, and accountability into the medicare system, I feel, it is not really well thought out. The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday passed a bill to regulate the functioning of private health facilities. Providing for up to three-year jail terms and trials under the IPC for offenders and fines up to Rs 50 lakh in case of death of patients due to medical negligence.
While I am completely in favor of improving the healthcare system in India and making it more patient-centric, I think some of the points mentioned in the bill are not really far-sighted. Fundamentally, the existence of private healthcare sector is due to the inability of the government in providing the fundamental right of health to all its citizens, it can't mandate…
