Discrimination against patients from Bangladesh: striking at the heart of medical ethics.

We draw attention to the World Medical Association's (WMA) International Code of Medical Ethics [1] as the benchmark of medical ethics, in the face of inflammatory and discriminatory statements issued by some senior Indian doctors against Bangladeshi patients. These statements followed allegations that the Indian tricolor and Hindus had been insulted in Bangladesh. The Indian mainstream media carried these statements uncritically. The Director of Jitendra Narayan Ray Hospital, Kolkata, Dr Subhrangshu Bhakta, announced that notifications had already been issued by the hospital refusing to admit Bangladeshi patients for treatment. He claimed that Bangladesh is behaving like an enemy and that we should not help the enemy. "The nation comes first. … We hope other hospitals will support us and take similar steps, …" [2, 3] He also said that "the country is above all else ‒ that medical service may be a noble profession, but the dignity of the country was paramount." [4].