Pegasus to offer PG diploma in healthcare law

EHM News Bureau - Bangalore

Bangalore-based Pegasus Foundation has proposed to start an Institute for Healthcare, Ethics, Law and Management to offer postgraduate diploma in healthcare law through study as well as a research programme.

It also plans to offer PhD and MPhil courses in Healthcare law with a long-term objective of training faculty. The classes will be conducted once a month on a Sunday and a total of 20 such contact classes will be conducted annually.

Pegasus Foundation has been granted recognition by Karnataka’s Kuvempu University as a research and study centre. The Foundation proposes to conduct educational activities through Distance Education.

The course aims to ensure that every member involved in the healthcare industry is capable of delivering the goods effectively and making decisions that are technically correct, legally and ethically sound in the interest of patient, said Dr Kamini A Rao, well-known obstetrician and gynaecologist and one of the Directors of the Foundation.

She stressed on the need for introduction of Health Law in the MBBS syllabus. Prof Joga Rao, an acclaimed figure in legal and academic circles and another director of the Foundation, said the course offers tremendous career opportunities.

This course aims to cater to the informational and educational needs of doctors, hospital administrators, nurses, lawyers, judges, law teachers, researchers and other stakeholders in the healthcare industry. “This is not restricted to medical graduates but can be undertaken by graduates from any stream,” said Prof Rao.

In India, medical litigation was almost unheard of till the 80s. It slowly started gaining momentum in the 90s. After 1995, it witnessed an almost 25-40 per cent increase. Medical litigation is not just confined to consumer redressal forums but stretches to civil and criminal courts.