CPI demands action against 'medical mafia'; calls for ethical healthcare reforms

New Delhi [India], February 14 (ANI): The Communist Party of India (CPI) called for urgent measures to curb "exploitative and unethical practices" in the healthcare sector, warning that it cannot be treated as a profit-driven enterprise.
In a statement on Saturday, CPI leader K Narayana said, "The increasing prevalence of unethical and exploitative practices in the healthcare sector has become a serious issue affecting millions of ordinary citizens. Incidents of unnecessary diagnostic tests, excessive treatment costs, inflated billing, and commission-based referrals point toward a disturbing commercialisation of medical services."
He emphasised that healthcare is a basic social obligation, not a profit-driven enterprise, and said, "What is widely described as a 'medical mafia' erodes public trust, places unbearable financial burdens on families, and violates the ethical foundations of the medical profession."
Narayana demanded stringent regulation and periodic audits of private hospitals and diagnostic centres; transparent, standardised pricing for treatments, procedures, and medical devices; firm action against kickbacks and commission networks; effective protection of patient rights; and independent grievance redressal systems. He also called for strengthening public healthcare services to prevent commercial exploitation, and urged regulatory authorities, including the National Medical Commission (NMC), to enforce ethical standards without compromise and take decisive action against violators.
He added, "No patient should be reduced to a revenue source. The government must act urgently to safeguard affordability, ethics, and accessibility in healthcare."
Meanwhile, an economic evaluation published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research has shown that shorter, six-month all-oral treatment regimens for multidrug-resistant and rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) are cost-effective and yield improved health outcomes compared with currently used longer regimens in India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
According to a press release, the study was conducted by ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR-NIRT). It assessed the cost-effectiveness of bedaquiline-based regimens BPaL (bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid) and BPaLM (with moxifloxacin) compared with existing bedaquiline-containing shorter (9-11 months) and longer (18-20 months) treatment regimens used under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP).
According to the release, the analysis found that the BPaL regimen is both more effective and cost-saving. For each additional Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY) gained, the health system spends INR 379 less per patient than with the standard regimen, indicating better health outcomes at lower cost. (ANI)