Docs practicing as allopaths but of different branches under lens

West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC) is keeping a tab on Homeopathy, Ayurveda and Unani doctors who were practicing as allopaths in private hospitals.

WBMC President Dr Nirmal Maji on Monday said that a large number of fake doctors are still operating in various private hospitals in the city after obtaining a diploma in Ayurveda, Unani or Homeopathy and action would be taken against them.

Maji said that there are some fake doctors in government hospitals as well and WBMC is registering complaints against such doctors. Altogether, 11 complaints have been lodged with the Bidhannagar commissionerate against fake doctors by the WBMC among which, three FIRs have been lodged against some fake doctors in government hospitals. WBMC will take action against these persons who are practicing both in private and government-run hospitals without a registration either from the state medical council or the Medical Council of India.

"Many chambers have mushroomed in various parts of the state especially in the districts where people are practicing as an MBBS doctors after getting degrees from

various paramedical councils," Maji said.

He also added that these doctors do not have a valid registration from the state medical council. They start practicing in various chambers after getting a diploma from various councils that have come up in the state in the past few decades. Many of these doctors have obtained a diploma degree while in reality, they actually studied up to the level of class VIII-X," Maji said.

WBMC has repeatedly written to various private hospitals in the state to furnish the details regarding the doctors, their registration numbers and others but they were reluctant to share these information.

"In November, we had instructed the private hospitals to provide certain information about the doctors but they failed to do so. We are following certain procedures under the purview of the WBMC to find out the fake doctors in private hospitals," Maji maintained.

He also said that WBMC is making it mandatory that all the doctors have to mention their registration numbers on their prescriptions and the subject of their study. Those doctors who have not yet registered themselves with the WBMC have been requested to do so. The doctors also have to enlist their information relating to their degrees and other credentials with the WBMC in every five years. There are around 76,500 registered medical practitioners in the state, Maji maintained.

He also urged the people to inform to the state medical council through email or letter or report it to the local police station if they find anything suspicious in a doctor. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which has been probing the fake doctors' issue, is sharing information relating to various doctors from time to time for cross verification.

The CID also submitted a list 10 suspected fake doctors from North Bengal with the WBMC.

It may be here mentioned that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Monday arrested another fake doctor from Howrah's Bauria. He had allegedly been practicing in a chamber for the past seven years. Ram Sankar Singh, the accused, had allegedly been practicing with a fake MBBS certificate. The CID arrested the accused after some local residents lodged complaints against the doctor with the police. The accused, however, claimed that he has valid documents. This is the seventh arrest by the CID in this connection so far.