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Category: Letters
March 12, 2018
The medical profession, once considered a "noble profession" has been under the scanner for deterioration in services. This decline is generally attributed to commercialisation of services, waning human values, and a lack of empathy and communication skills. At a time when discussions are focused...
March 07, 2018
Despite ongoing tensions in various parts of the world, the year 2017 ended on a positive note. The Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was passed by the UN General Assembly on July 7, 2017, which will always be a red-letter day in history. It has raised many hopes for a future world withou...
February 21, 2018
Nursing research is a developing field to which individuals within the profession can contribute substantially based on their skills and practical experience of nursing care. Both reporting of informed consent and ethical approval are key aspects of published papers which indicate the researchers...
February 07, 2018
Declaration of conflicts of interest (COI, understood mainly as financial) in medical publications is long established. Most journals refer only to the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) but not to those of the WAME (World Association of Medical Editors)....
January 23, 2018
Compulsory service programmes for MBBS students have existed for many years in India and other parts of the world. Such programmes have been referred to differently as "obligatory", "mandatory", "requisite" and "compulsory" service. Governments look at these programmes as a means to deploy and re...
January 18, 2018
Five years since Nirbhaya, and nearly as long since the Justice Verma Committee Report, amendments to the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013, and the National guidelines and protocols on medico-legal care for survivors of sexual violence by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) 2014, we,...
January 01, 2018
In their letter, Singh and Thawani highlight the gender insensitivity of the government which, after declaring items such as sindoor, bindis and condoms as tax-free, opted to levy 12% tax on sanitary napkins, equating the napkin with items such as packaged dry fruits, fruit juices, cell phones an...
January 01, 2018
For some time now, a debate has been raging on the issue of generic drug prescriptions. Doctors are divided on this matter. Those against generic prescription cite possible poor quality and inadequate testing; while those in favour assert that the move would make cheaper medicines accessible to m...
January 08, 2018
The World Medical Association (WMA) provides ethical guidance to physicians through its declarations, resolutions and statements. WMA first adopted its Resolution on physician participation in capital punishment in 1981, which was then amended in 2000, and 2008. The revised Declaration of Geneva ...
December 21, 2017
The editorial by Jesani and Johari in this journal raises some contentious yet relevant ethical issues pertaining to vaccination practices in India. Vaccination is one of the most important preventive measures against infectious diseases. The eradication of smallpox in the 70s and near eradicatio...