Doctor denied leave for treatment abroad, referred to Bangladeshi physician

Professor Dr Mrinmoy Biswas (now OSD) of Department of Urology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College in Faridpur had applied for a leave to go to India for treatment.

However, a senior assistant secretary of the Ministry of Health in a circular asked him to take advice from a doctor in the country instead without granting him leave.

The circular, signed by Sujit Debnath, senior assistant secretary of the Health Services Division of the Ministry of Health, was issued yesterday (November 8, 2022).

In the circular published on the website of the Ministry of Health, it was said that Professor Dr Mrinmoy Biswas is suffering from an ear disease called "Tinnitus Due to Unknown Aetiology".

Dr Mrinmoy had applied for a total of 15 days of foreign earned leave from September 16 or the date of leave to go to India for better treatment of his ears. "In this situation, Dr Mrinmoy Biswas was asked to take advice from renowned nose-ear-throat specialist of the subcontinent Dr Pran Gopal Dutt," according to the circular.

According to sources, Professor Dr Mrinmoy has been ill for quite some time. In view of this, he has applied for a leave so that he can go to India for better treatment.

In yesterday's circular posted on the health ministry's website, another doctor (OSD) was given a seven-day leave to go to India. The doctor's daughter will go to India for treatment. He has been given leave to go with his daughter.

Swadhinata Chikitshak Parishad (Swachip) President Prof Dr Iqbal Arslan told The Daily Star that "Professor Mrinmoy has applied for leave to go to India after visiting doctors of the country. He must have submitted other necessary documents, including the advice of the doctors here, for the leave. How did the ministry refer him to another doctor?"

Public health expert Professor Dr Benazir Ahmed said, "Since it is a matter of treatment, considering it from a humanitarian point of view, Prof Mrinmoy Biswas could have been given leave."