Software for medico-legal cases proves a failure; probe sought
Manish Sirhindi
Tribune News Service
Patiala, February 24
The official software used to enter details of medico-legal cases online in Punjab has proved to be a total failure. It has lead to completely paralyse the medico-legal services for the past one week, causing harassment to patients and doctors deputed for medico-legal duties.
Dr DS Bhullar, General Secretary of the Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association, Patiala Unit, and a former president of the Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, said the doctors were feeling helpless as the software known as “MedLeaPR” had been developing glitch from the day
one despite hefty maintenance charges. The problem is being regularly highlighted by the doctors, but there is no one to listen to them.
Dr Bhullar said according to the experts at Punjabi University, the best server costs Rs 3 lakh, but the National Informatics Centre (NIC) had charged Rs 50 lakh. The annual maintenance cost was about 10 per cent i.e.
Rs 30,000, but the NIC wants Rs 30 lakh per year. It is a financial bungling and a high-level probe, preferably by the CBI, was required to unearth the scandal and stop further damage to the state exchequer.
He said the online service being provided by the software company was a total failure and the Punjab Government should file a case in the consumer forum for ‘gross’ deficiency in service by the company. Otherwise, the doctors facing the problem would be compelled to take initiative against “MedLeaPR” as well as the Department of Health and Family Welfare Punjab to bring out the truth about the failure in service in spite of hefty payments to the company.
He said senior forensic medicine experts in the state had started questioning the utility of the entire online system as to who was going to benefit from the onlineservice of medico-legal reporting. The police as well as the lower courts were still demanding hard copies of the medico-legal reports and the paper work for it had gone up by three times apart from the wastage of time for computer recording, which is again a violation of the Apex Court that had categorically directed the lower courts that the doctors should not be made to waste time in court cases so that their patients do not suffer.
Moreover, apart from medico-legal injury and post-mortem reports, no other medical record, including chemical and histopathology reports and treatment record to be produced in the court, are being computerised. Even a large number
of private hospitals have not started the online service yet.
In fact, the legal axe has fallen on the head of only those government doctors who are dealing with medico-legal injury and post-mortem cases. Otherwise, every medical document that is produced in the court of law is a medico-legal report and needs to be brought online in the light of the directives of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology is going to become a party in this case after taking legal opinion so that doctors dealing with medico-legal work are saved from the mess due to poor online service by MedLeaPR company.
‘Doctors feeling helpless’
Dr DS Bhullar, General Secretary of the Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association, Patiala Unit, and a former president of the Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, said the doctors were feeling helpless as the software known as “MedLeaPR” had been developing glitch from the day one despite hefty maintenance charges. The problem is being regularly highlighted by the doctors, but there is no one to listen to them.
