MEDICO-LEGAL ASPECTS OF COVID-19 DISEASE IN INDIA: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW.

Abstract

In India, the first case of a COVID-19 patient was reported on 30^th January 2020 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Kerala’s Thrissur district. On 11^th March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general’s briefed the media as an opening statement of the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic worldwide. In the literature data search, no article found which comprises the ethical and medico-legal aspects related to a COVID 19 pandemic situation. Therefore the purpose of to present review was to evaluate and review the Indian medico-legal aspects of Covid-19 disease. In the present review, different topics were covered such as the Epidemic Disease Act - 1897, the Disaster Management Act - 2005, the Biomedical Waste Management Act - 1998, the amendments to Epidemic Disease Act - 1998, Telemedicine and/or Teledentistry in the pandemic era in India, etc. The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic are huge, but the basic principles of laws can keep healthcare personnel out of the medico-legal woods.

Keywords: COVID-19 disease, Disaster Management Act, Epidemic Disease Act, Medico-legal, Teledentistry.