The Bangladesh Private Medical College Association has threatened to wage protests if any of their members face “unnecessary harassment” from law enforcement agencies.
The BPMCA’s statement comes at a time when the government has stepped up crackdowns on corruption in the health sector after several high-profile scams were uncovered at medical institutions.
The defensive response from the BPMCA has drawn criticism from anti-corruption civil society organization Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), which says the association’s statement shows they lack confidence that private hospitals can operate with honesty, transparency, and accountability.
“Any entity, private or public, especially in the health sector, that operates without being involved in corruption, irregularities and other violations of the law should have no reason to panic due to such [anti-corruption] drives,” TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said.
“They cannot be oblivious to the context, with some shocking cases of scandalous corruption being exposed one after another in the sector recently. If the demand [to stop ‘unnecessary harassment’] is meant to be a veiled threat to hold the government hostage, it is unethical and unacceptable. Such a demand is tantamount to blanket protection for irregularities and corruption,” he added.
However, Dr Iftekharuzzaman also said the government needs to ensure that the law enforcement agencies who are authorized to conduct such drives maintain the highest standards of integrity, impartiality and accountability and refrain from any abuse of power.
“Another reason for the panicky statement from the BPMCA may be the deficit of public confidence that our law enforcement agencies are capable of ensuring those desired standards,” the TIB executive director added.
The raids so far
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Monday lodged a case against Shahabuddin Medical College Hospital Managing Director Faisal Al Islam, Assistant Director Abul Hasnat, and Store Keeper Shahriz Kabir, for unauthorized Covid-19 tests at the hospital.
The case was lodged and arrests made after a raid at the hospital premises on Sunday, where RAB found nine different irregularities, including the issuance of Covid-19 test reports without approved tests, using unauthorized rapid test kits for Covid-19 tests, and admitting Covid-19 negative patients by giving them fake Covid-19 positive test results.
Furthermore, the hospital was found to have been continuously offering services even though its license expired in June 2019.
The three arrested hospital officials were put on remand for five days by a Dhaka court on Tuesday.
Earlier, the government suspended permissions to conduct Covid-19 tests at five private hospitals and diagnostic centres: Shahabuddin Medical, Care Medical College, Stemz Healthcare, and Thyrocare Diagnostic in Dhaka, and Epic Health Care in Chittagong.
On July 6, RAB sealed the Uttara and Mirpur branches of Regent Hospital due to a scam involving Covid-19 tests.
The hospital collected close to 10,500 samples, of which nearly 6500 were not tested. The Regent Hospital authorities provided fake certificates for the untested samples, said RAB spokesperson Ashiq Billah.
A week later on July 15, RAB arrested Regent Hospital Chairman Mohammad Shahed, alias Shahed Karim, on charges of providing fake Covid-19 certificates and embezzling money from patients. He was arrested in Debhata, Satkhira.
On June 24, police detained five people including Ariful Chowdhury, CEO of private healthcare organization JKG Health Care, for a Covid-19 testing scam.
The group used to collect samples from people who wished to be tested for Covid-19 and then sent them false reports for a fee, said investigators. Later, DGHS revoked the testing license of JKG Health Care.
On July 12, police arrested JKG Health Care Chairman Dr Sabrina Arif Chowdhury for her alleged involvement in the Covid-19 testing scam.
The BPMCA statement
In a statement on Monday, the BPMCA threatened to adopt tough programs if any of their association members face any “unnecessary harassment.”
“The way an official of the Shahabuddin Medical was detained and handcuffed is very disrespectful. We do not have any problem when the authorities crackdown on hospitals guilty of malpractice, but if there is any specific allegation against a private institution, that should be dealt with under the existing law of the country and action should be taken upon investigation by proper authorities,” BPMCA President MA Mubin Khan told Dhaka Tribune.
He claimed that many of the doctors and staff at private medical institutions have already resigned in panic and fear, and they may not be able to provide services if the situation continues.
“They [law enforcement agencies] should engage the proper authorities when dealing with issues related to medical facilities,” he demanded.
He demanded exemplary punishment for institutions involved in malpractice, if found guilty upon investigation.
Mubin Khan also demanded punishment of government officials who were involved in granting Covid-19 testing permission to Regent Hospital and JKG, despite knowing that the two institutions did not have proper facilities for Covid-19 testing.
He added that they already held a meeting with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Monday to discuss these matters. The minister assured them there would be no harassment and promised to consult the prime minister.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal could not be reached for comment.