Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal receives the IMA AMS Dr R.K. Menda Memorial Oration Award 2014


Recognizing outstanding contribution in the field of medical ethics, IMA AMS – the research and academic wing of the Indian Medical Association felicitated Dr. KK Aggarwal with the Dr. R.K. Menda Memorial Oration Award at their annual day function held at Hotel Hindustan International in Kolkata on Sunday. The subject of his oration was “How to respond to complaints of medical negligence”.

An eminent cardiologist, President of Heart Care Foundation of India and the Senior National Vice President of the Indian Medical Association, Dr. KK Aggarwal has played an active role in streamlining the procedure of handling medical negligence cases and creating guidelines which all doctors must follow through his books and writings. Medical negligence can have a profound impact on the career of a doctor and therefore it becomes extremely important for them to be aware of the steps they must take to avoid any such situation.

Commenting on the oration, Dr. K.K. Aggarwal, Sr. National Vice President of the Indian Medical Association and the President of the Heart Care Foundation of India said, “The number of medical negligence cases we get at the Medical Council of India and the Delhi Medical Council are increasing by the year. With the increasing work pressure and competition, doctors often ignore some of the basic steps that they must take when dealing with any patient. It is extremely important that all doctors not just follow the line of treatment which has been decided in consultation with the patient or his family, but they must also document what they do and save that incase any dispute arises in the future. Following these three simple steps can help the doctor safeguard himself and his practice”.
Dr. KK Aggarwal is the recipient of three National Awards, namely the Padma Shri for brilliance in medicine and the Dr. BC Roy award for excellence in socio–medical awareness and DST National Award for Outstanding Efforts in Science & Technology Communication. Dr. KK Aggarwal has also served as a Director at IMA AKN Sinha Institute, Finance Secretary at IMA and Chairman at IMAAMS in the past.

In a joint statement, Dr. R.D. Dubey, Chairman of the organizing committee of National AMSCON 2014 along with Dr. S.K. Raj, Chairman IMA AMS HQ Hyd and Dr E. Prabhavati, Hony. Secretary IMA AMS HQ Hyderabad said, “It gives us immense happiness to present this award to someone as deserving as Dr. KK Aggarwal. His vision and outlook towards creating health awareness and streamlining the medical practice is commendable. We congratulate him on another achievement and hope that he continues to serve the society the way he does in the future as well”.”

A pioneer of leading health initiatives, Dr. KK Aggarwal has been instrumental in bringing treatments such as clot dissolving therapy for acute heart attacks and Colour Doppler Echocardiography in the country. In addition to this, he has also conceptualized and organized unique consumer driven health awareness platforms such as The Perfect Health Mela and the Run for your Heart as a part of his role as the President of The Heart Care Foundation of India. His most recent project within the NGO called the Sameer Malik Heart Care Foundation Fund is playing an instrumental role in providing heart care for all patients in need of treatment but do not have the financial or technical means to fund it.

Dr. KK Aggarwal’s other roles also include Dean of the Board of Medical Education Moolchand Medcity, Member Ethics Committee Medical Council of India, Chairman Ethics Committee Delhi Medical Council, Editor in Chief IJCP Group of Publications and eMedinewS and Chairman Legal Cell Indian Academy of Echocardiography.