New protocol for live surgery workshops: Hospitals now require multiple prior approvals

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued strict guidelines restricting live broadcasts of surgeries, emphasising patient safety and ethical medical education. The new rules advocate safer alternatives like recorded videos, wet labs, and simulation-based methods for medical training.

Hyderabad: Taking a firm stance against the widespread practice of broadcasting live surgeries from hospitals to medical workshops and seminars, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has advocated alternative measures like recorded videos, wet labs that allow surgeons to practice on cadavers and animal organs and simulation-based surgeries and procedures.

The NMC has prohibited financial incentives to patients for participation in live broadcast surgeries. It is also now mandatory to obtain explicit consent from the patient for a live broadcast of their surgery. In case complications arise from a live surgery/procedure, then it must be managed free of cost for the patient.

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Typically, a majority of surgeries that are broadcast from hospitals to seminar/workshop halls, are performed by accomplished international surgeons or national-level teaching faculty.

From now on, it is mandatory for the organising body of such events to obtain prior permissions from regulatory authorities and relevant institutions. Moreover, the surgeon performing the procedure must not interact remotely with doctors attending the seminar during the surgery.

The NMC also has explicitly stated that live broadcasts must strictly serve educational purposes, forbidding their use for commercial gain or promotion of the surgeons, hospitals or products.

High-risk procedures are to be avoided for live broadcast, with edited recordings preferred. The Commission’s Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) has also recommended safer alternatives like recorded videos, wet lab, cadaveric practice, and simulation-based surgeries, as they pose no risk to patients while providing effective learning.