Dr KK Aggarwal honoured with life time achievement award by PAFMAT
Senior forensic medicine experts of Patiala have bagged the two prestigious state awards of Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology this year during the 18th annual conference of the Academy virtually organized by Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology in Government Medical College Amritsar.
Former principal of Government Medical College Patiala and now Director Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences Jalandhar Dr. KK Aggarwal has been honored with Life Time Achievement Award while Dr. DS Bhullar, President of the Academy and Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine in Govt. Medical College Patiala has bagged the PAFMAT Fellowship Award of the state body of forensic medicine and medicolegal experts this year. Dr. Parmod Goyal from Bathinda has received Young Forensic Medicine Expert Award of the year.
Principal Government Medical College Patiala Rajan Singla participating as Guest of Honour at Patiala, said that under the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic, the medical fraternity is doing its best possible efforts for tackling the Covid related problems and patient care and the suggestions made by the experts during the conference will be incorporated for further improvement.
Lauding the role and contribution of forensic medicine experts dealing with living and dead medicolegal cases in the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. DS Bhullar in his presidential address from Patiala said that the Covid-19 positive death in hospital or medical care is a non-medicolegal case and does not require autopsy in accordance with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)Guidelines and directions of National Human Rights Commission and
the required certification of death has to be done by the treating doctors but it has been witnessed that the doctors dealing with postmortem cases are being requested or directed for postmortem of Covid-19 diagnosed deaths even including custodial deaths which is not required.
The National Human Rights Commission has clearly stated that autopsy should be waived off by Executive Magistrate or the Investigating Officer in the Covid positive certified natural hospital death cases and there is no need of conducting autopsy in such kind of custodial deaths.
According to the forensic experts the reason for such exemption is that the doctors, mortuary technicians and others in mortuary performing autopsy are exposed to potentially high and dangerous health risks due to coming in direct contact with infected organs, fluids and secretions, even after taking the highest precautions and no laboratory at National or State level has been specifically designated to handle samples from COVID-19 cases as per ICMR guidelines document.
October 10,2020
