The GD assessed the withdrawal of medics from the article on unsafe services

The State Duma has passed in the third reading the law "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation". It includes amendments of fundamental importance for medical workers, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection Badma Bashankaev told Izvestia.

According to the text of the document, the effect of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation now does not apply to cases of medical care provided by medical workers. The article concerns the production, storage, transportation or sale of goods and products, performance of work or provision of services that do not meet safety requirements.

The lawmakers proposed to stop calling a set of actions by doctors to treat a patient a medical service, leaving the term only for financial documents and some specified cases.

"Today, medics can be held criminally liable under various articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. And the 238th is one of the most frequently used. Among the main reasons here is the attribution by law enforcers of medical care to services rendered within the framework of civil-law relations," Bashankaev said.

According to him, the number of criminal cases initiated under Article 238 increases annually. In 2022, 138 cases were initiated under the first part of the article, and in 2023 their number increased to 216. As for the second part of the article (serious crimes), there is even more growth: in 2022, 136 cases were registered, and in 2023 this figure reached 247.

"Being a doctor is always a risk. Especially for specialists who are on the front lines of medicine: surgeons, anesthesiologists, obstetricians. They save lives every day, face the most difficult situations, provide emergency, planned, high-tech assistance. It is assistance, not services! And the new bill will allow doctors, as they call it, to breathe a little easier," Bashankaev summarized.

In March, the co-author of the bill, Senator Daria Lantratova told Izvestia about these amendments. According to her, replacing the term "service" with "help" in medicine restores the main meaning of the medical profession.