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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Quack on call to hurt healthcare by Kumud Jenamani

Quack on call to hurt healthcare by Kumud Jenamani

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published Published on Feb 10, 2012   modified Modified on Feb 10, 2012

Rajnish, a ninth grader of an English-medium school, wanted a medical certificate to do a bunk from school for some days. When doctors refused to certify he was ill, a quack obliged. The fee: Rs 50

Surajit Ghosh, a construction firm employee, defaulted on his insurance premium for 18 months. While reviving his policy the insurance office asked him to get his medical status approved by a doctor. Help was close by. A quack waiting at the insurance office itself did the job for Rs 30

If doctors are beyond your means, try out a quick-fix quack.

There are 1,200 registered practitioners in Jamshedpur, charging consultation fees between Rs 150 and Rs 700 or more, and over Rs 100 for a certificate. But delve into the grey underbelly of healthcare, and you will get an army of quacks taking Rs 40-50 per visit and even less for a certificate.

To put it simply, the demand for affordable doctors amid a malfunctioning public healthcare system spawns the supply of quacks. Its implications, both in terms of health and law and order, are dangerous.

“We have prepared a list of about 100 unqualified medical practitioners operating in the city,” said Mritunjay Singh, general secretary of Indian Medical Association, city chapter. “We will place it before state health secretary. Quacks always practised in villages, but now they have made inroads in the city. There is no one to check them,” he fumed.

Singh went on to add that many nursing homes, medical stores and non-banking finance firms enlisted quacks instead of qualified doctors.

State health Secretary K. Vidyasagar admitted it was a serious issue. “I will ask the East Singhbhum DC to look into the matter,” he said.

However, DC Himani Pande claimed ignorance. “I can take action only if I get a specific instance,” she said.

Her ignorance notwithstanding, The Telegraph, in its own survey, discovered a number of quacks.

A few keep the abbreviation AM — alternate medicine — in small font before the grandiosely inscribed MBBS on letterheads. It is on these that they prescribe medicines or issue certificates, but no one reads the fine print.

In some cases, quacks prefix the honorific Dr, though they claim they are RMP (rural medical practitioners) on the letterhead. RMP, however, is a valid certificate issued by the state health department to those who have worked as a compounder under an MBBS doctor for five or more years.

But RMPs practise within city limits, which they are not authorised to do. “There is no private practice in villages, so I sit at Sidhgora. Patients come, I give them medicines. What’s the harm?” asked D.K. Gupta, an RMP.

Quacks without any qualification are more brazen.

A “doctor” at an established Ranikuder pharmacy did not have the mandatory Medical Council of India registration number on his letterhead, though he claimed to be an MBBS from Calcutta’s Nilratan Medical College.

“I am a general physician. My consultation fee is Rs 40 per visit,” said Jeetendra Kumar Ganguly. Asked why his registration number was missing, or if his name was on the IMA list of quacks, he clammed up.


The Telegraph, 10 February, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120210/jsp/jharkhand/story_15113850.jsp


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