Authors : Arti Kasulkar, Madhur Gupta, P. A. Mardkar
Volume : 10
Issue : 1
Year : 2016
Page No : 01-05
Background: To safeguard interests of consumers, consumer protection act was passed in 1986 in India. After commencement of CPA, drastic changes have occurred. Number of litigations increased, large number of patients and consumer originations are approaching consumer courts for the redressal of grievances against doctors and hospitals. The present study was designed to assess the awareness of CPA in medical professionals. Material and Method: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was carried out among 186 doctors. The data was analyzed for number and percentage. Results: We found that although 178 (95.6%) doctors were aware about the existence and inclusion of CPA 156 (83.9%), only 23 (12.4%) doctors were actually having mean awareness score greater than 60%. Maximum doctors 128(68.8%) scored very poor to poor. Doctors of clinical faculty 43(45.3%) were having higher moderate to good mean awareness. Conclusion: Doctors need to be aware about various laws related to medical profession including CPA and its amendments to protect them.