More than 23,000 doctors and nurses have signed a petition aimed at protecting healthcare professionals from possible malpractice claims.
Amnat Kusalanan, chairman of the Medical Council of Thailand, filed the amendment petition signed by 23,385 doctors and nurses with Parliament President Somsak Kiatsuranont yesterday. The petition seeks to amend the Consumer Case Procedure Act.
He said the petitioners wanted a change to Section 3 of the act to exclude medical and health professionals from being defined as "operators" within the act.
"Medical and nursing services should not be compared to general trade and services because we have been inculcated with morality since we were medical students," Dr Amnat said.
"Students from 19 medical institutions in Thailand sign a code of ethics to adhere to morality."
Itthiporn Khanacharoen, who supports the legal amendment push, said Section 420 of the Civil and Commercial Code already allowed medical service users to demand compensation, and the Medical Council of Thailand already had a compensation fund for patients.
He said the Consumer Case Procedure Act causes doctors and nurses to fear malpractice lawsuits and as a result sometimes they were reluctant to accept patients for treatment.
Following verification of the petition's signatures, the legal amendment will go on parliament's agenda, Mr Somsak said.
Earlier, consumer organisations tried to push for a bill to protect medical patients, but those attempts faced strong opposition from the Medical Council of Thailand, doctors and nurses.
Opposition to the bill prevented it from being proposed in parliament.