Doctors with 1-year practice can conduct vasectomy: SC

SC accepts the Centre’s plea to permit doctors having one year of experience conduct vasectomy and tubectomy operations, reports Bhadra Sinha.

The Supreme Court on Thursday accepted the Centre’s plea to permit doctors having one year of experience conduct vasectomy and tubectomy operations.

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The bench headed by the Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan allowed the Centre’s application filed in a public interest litigation seeking amendment to an earlier SC order.

The apex court had in 2005 passed directions that doctors must have at lease minimum experience of five years to conduct a surgery.

However, the government claimed in its application that on account of the order there the sterilisation operations have decreased during 2005-06 and the family planning programme has suffered.

“The drop in percentage is 4.1 per cent as compared to the sterilisation operations conducted during 2004-05. Similarly there is a drop of 12.2 per cent of sterilization operations in the first quarter of 2006-07,” the government claimed in its application.

Citing the regulations of Medical Council of India (MCI), the government claimed that an MBBS graduate is treated competent to perform the family planning operations like tubectomy and vasectomy.

“Hence, the requirement of five years of post- graduation experience in the field of gynaecology is not mandatory,” the government claimed.