IPS comes up with guidelines for doctors on sexual boundaries and ethics
There are certain questions in the context of medical practice to which clear-cut answers are unavailable. For instance, is it ethical for a doctor to accept expensive gifts from his/her patient. Or what exactly differentiates a ‘good’ touch from a ‘bad’ touch during a clinical procedures, should the doctor perhaps conduct genital tests without following formal procedure?
To end ambiguity with regards the answers to such questions, the Indian Psychiatry Society(IPS) along with the Bangalore Declaration Group which constitutes doctors from different medical specialties in India has laid down guidelines for doctors on sexual and other ethical boundaries. It’s the first time that such a set of guidelines is produced by the IPS.
While the Hippocratic Oath prohibits doctors from entering into unhealthy relationships with patients and MCI’s Code of Ethics does warn about immoral conduct, more specific guidelines have been lacking. The IPS commissioned a task force to work on the guidelines. The task force on Boundary Violations has been working since 2008.
As per Dr Prasad Rao, the president of IPS, it’s important that doctors know the borders of intimacy with a patient, both physically ands mentally. While non-consensual sexual activity is obviously a crime, even a consensual sexual act in a power imbalanced relation like in the doctor-patient context isn’t truly consensual, he said. It’s hoped that these guidelines will encourage other medical groups in India to start addressing such issues =[, he added.
The proposed guidelines would be updated on the IPS’ official website, inviting opinions from the psychiatric fraternity. By October 2, the IPS will adopt them. Once the guidelines are finalized, all 6,500 psychiatrists recognized by IPS will have to abide by the guidelines.
Dr. Ajit Bhide, the chairperson of IPS task force on boundary guidelines said that while many violations by doctors come to light, most don’t. Also, there’s the fact that doctors sometimes without realizing the boundaries make avoidable mistakes. The guidelines would help rectify these issues, he said.
As per Dr Sunita Simon Kurpad, professor and head of Medical Ethics Department at St.John’s Medical College, it’s essential that bio-ethics becomes part of medical curriculum, considering it the “need of the hour” that young doctors and trainees are made aware of the boundaries during under-graduation. She added that while bio-ethics isn’t focused well in the current medical curriculum, the issue has been taken up before the IMC and that by 2018-2019, it’s expected that bio-ethics will become a key part in medical curriculum.
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