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Journalism of Courage
VADODARA, Aug 22: Dermatologist Chetan Patel and orthopedic surgeon J Desai were unanimously elected president and secretary of the Vadodara branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) here on Sunday.
According to Dr Patel, Kamal Jain was elected vice-president, S P Shrivastava joint secretary, and Deval Shah treasurer, all unanimously. However, all the 14 managing committee members were chosen by voting by IMA members amid anxiety at the IMA Hall. A special function would be held at the Gandhi Nagar Gruha on September 19 to felicitate the new office-holders.
Patel told Express Newsline that he and the other representatives would take up issues pertaining to hospital registration fees levied by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, the question of quacks and the increasing violence against medical professionals by patients’ kin.
He said the VMC had started levying huge fees on private clinics, clinical laboratories and nursing homes, which had anguished all the city’s doctors. “We shall soon be holding dialogues with political leaders as well as VMC authorities on lowering the fee”, he said, and added that he would also activate the IMA’s legal cell to stand by doctors who are assaulted by patients’ kin. Besides, we shall also launch an anti-quack drive soon, he added.
