PGI withdraws order on appointment of ethics committee chairman

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 21

Following a report carried in these columns on the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research violating the rules while appointing the chairman of the ethics committee of the institute, the PGI has withdrawn its order.

In the report, which appeared in these columns on Sunday, it was highlighted how going against the rules, the PGI Director had appointed Dr GD Puri the chairman of the committee.

Dr Subhash Varma, PGI officiating Director, confirmed that the earlier order stood withdrawn and they were in the process of reconstituting the ethics committee. “The new chairman will be appointed soon and the appointment will be made as per the legal provisions,” he said.

Dr Puri is currently heading the Anaesthesia Department. The order was a sheer violation of the rules. As per the criteria laid down in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (2005 amendment), any research dealing with human beings in a medical institute requires to be cleared by the medical ethics committee.

To ensure a fair and free decision, it is mandatory that the chairman of the committee is appointed from outside the institute. Even the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and the Indian Council for Medical Research have similar guidelines when it comes to appointing the chairman of the medical ethics committee.

The issue of reconstitution of the ethics committee, which was so far being headed by an eminent nephrologist, Dr KS Chugh, arose when it was pointed out that Dr Chugh was professor emeritus and hence could not serve as the chairman of the committee. Earlier, a neonatologist, Dr ON Bakhoo, and Dr NK Ganguly, who are also professors emeritus at the institute, served as the chairman of the committee.