'Restore AIIMS as inst of excellence in 'patient care'

New Delhi, Aug 6: The Medicos forum of equal opportunities today called for an early intervention by Parliament to save the character of AIIMS as an institution of excellence in 'patient care' and 'medical education'.

In a letter written to over 400 MPs of different political parties, the medicos forum stressed upon the need for early intervention on part of the Parliament to force the government to take immediate remedial measures in this regard.

In this respect a delegation of Medicos Forum has also met Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, CPI(M) Parliamentary Party leader Mr Basudev Acharya, CPI Parliamentary Party leader Gurudas Das Gupta and president of Samata Party Sharad Yadav among others.

In the letter, the forum sought to particularly ''expose the reality behind the faÇade of "a great cardiothoracic surgeon" and a "scientist who has made pioneering contributions in stem cell research" in the country that has been built about Dr Venugopal''.

''His tall claims and experiments upon patients regarding stem cell research have been chided by reputed international scientific journal "Nature" and the resultant suffering of the patients that has been exposed in a section of national media. Dr Venugopal's 'larger than life' picture has helped him escape many a deeds of sheer criminal negligence that led to the death of unsuspecting patients operated upon by him, and has also become a carte blanc for the government and the Judiciary to let him off his ineptness as an administrator out to lord over AIIMS as his personal fiefdom,''the forum said in the letter.

The letter also dealt in great detail with issues like deliberate inaptness of the UPA government and AIIMS administration in letting the 'caste chauvinist forces have a field day' during the anti-reservation agitation, authoritarianism of the AIIMS administration, commercialisation of patient care and the issue of AIIMS autonomy.

''MFEO feels that these realities need to be investigated in depth such that the responsibilities are fixed and punitive action be taken against the culprits in the larger interest of the people and to restore the prestige of AIIMS as Institution of International repute,''the letter said.

UNI