The fact-finding committee constituted by the health department to inquire into the death of Desu Pertin Jerang with her unborn twins at the TRIHMS has reported serious lapses on the part of private hospital doctors attending her, and also pointed out the reckless reporting of the whole incident by the media. The committee submitted its report to the state government on 16 October. The committee has done a decent job and has clearly pointed out the lapses.
Now it is upto the state government to decide whether to further proceed ahead or consider it a closed chapter. But definitely there is a need for course correction. The private hospitals should address the lapses reported by the committee. They should take the criticism in a healthy spirit and try to work out a solution to address those lapses. The private hospitals of the state need to put more effort in order to develop a friendly atmosphere in their respective hospitals. Quite often they are accused of being unwelcoming to the poor section of people. The media too have been criticized by the committee for the way they reported the whole incident. This calls for self-introspection on the part of the media. In recent days, the state’s media, in particular the emerging digital media platforms, have been rightly criticized by citizens for reckless reporting on sensitive issues. The time has come for serious self-introspection.