Radiologists in India's Maharashtra state are threatening to broaden a strike that began last week in support of a radiologist they said was falsely accused of performing sex-determination tests, according to the Times of India.
Radiologists in the city of Pune have been on strike indefinitely since June 14, while radiologists elsewhere in the state of Maharashtra initially went on strike for just that day. The Maharashtra chapter of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA) and state officials have been quarreling since April when three ultrasound machines of a Pune-based radiologist were sealed following a government inquiry under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act. The local authorities had been investigating a case involving a fetus that was aborted after the 20-week cutoff for medical termination of pregnancy.
The state health department maintains that the radiologist had diagnosed meningocele, a brain abnormality in the fetus of a woman who subsequently underwent an abortion at 21 weeks of gestation. The state contended, however, that the radiologist did not inform it about the anomaly and kept the finding hidden, according to the article.
The Maharashtra IRIA has now given the state an ultimatum of two days to unseal the ultrasound machines of the radiologist accused of performing sex-determination tests, which is illegal in India. If not, radiologists across the state will go on strike indefinitely as of Monday, the Times reported.
IRIA said it has not decided whether other modalities besides ultrasound will be available during the strike, warning that if the authorities enforcing the PCPNDT Act do not comply with its demands to stop the "harassment" of the radiologist, it will take more serious measures.
IRIA's 2,500 members in the state have also demanded a government inquiry into what they claim is the improper enforcement of the PCPNDT Act in Pune. "Radiologists cannot work in an atmosphere of fear," Dr. Jignesh Thakker of the IRIA told the Times.
The state has also initiated action against the gynecologist who carried out the medical termination of pregnancy after the 20-week cutoff, and it plans to prosecute the couple, according to the article.
However, the IRIA believes that radiologists are being witch-hunted, and the radiologist in the case remains on leave while the state makes a decision, Thakker said. Radiologists are working under intense pressure and mental agony, he told the Times.
