OBLIGATIONS OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS DURING A PANDEMIC – AN ANALYSIS OF LAW AND ETHICS

Abstract

A doctor assumes a certain level of authority in discharging his duties during a situation of crisis which may bring about criminal liabilities. The generic debate that if the medical professionals are legally bound to serve relentlessly, knowing that it may cause significant physical harm or death as a part of the professional commitment to the society, is sought to be debunked in due course. Medical literature comparatively, in different countries have scrutinised what codified and standard professional ethics can a medical professional be a subject to when the number of infected people dramatically rises in calamitous circumstances. As India continues to be dependent on a colonial statute, it lacks provisions governing the action of state authorities and their response mechanisms in times of an epidemic. The paper finally concludes with remarks on the Constitutional elements of the response surrounding the spread of COVID-19, the basic right to health care thereof, and the way forward for the Indian health care framework to combat this emerging crisis.