Quack menace: Patient killed by quack (Delhi): qualified doctors regulated strictly but not unqualified?

In an era, when even licensed and qualified doctors are finding it  difficult to practice medicine, it is strange that unqualified and unlicensed are having a field day. Why a strict regulation does not apply to them, is beyond any reasoning and logic. If a medical facility or clinic is functional, it is difficult for the patient, specially in emergency, to check or even doubt its credentials. How such facilities are open, functional and thriving, which does not have a qualified medical person is beyond logic. Sadly our regulation is trying to regulate, who are already regulated. It is trying to punish those who are qualified and licensed, but turns a blind eye towards unlicensed and unqualified doctors.

Such fake doctors own medical set ups, may conduct surgeries,  sometimes run with little help from qualified doctors,  and do procedures. Another problem is that they   promote fake rumours about genuinely qualified doctors and create a mist of mistrust to propagate their fake medical business.

If this is state of medical affairs prevalent in heart of capital and such facilities are functional and thriving, what will be state of affairs in peripheral or remote areas. Again it does not need an Einstein brain to guess.

The Delhi Medical Council (DMC) on Wednesday ordered criminal action against a quack whose “treatment” resulted in the death of a patient in November last year.

The hospital in which the patient was treated was also not registered with the Directorate of Health Services, Delhi. The patient was treated by an unqualified person in an unregistered hospital and did not receive proper treatment, which led to his death. The man, who had pretended to be a doctor, had been practising medicine for almost 12 years in Delhi and was a member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), a pan-india representative organisation of doctors, and the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), a renowned association of paediatricians.

The 45 years old patient  had an undiagnosed liver disease. He went to a private hospital in Munirka ( New Delhi) around 2 pm on noticing blood in his vomit and stool. Within nine hours, the condition of the patient deteriorated and he was taken to Safdarjung hospital New Delhi , where he was declared dead on arrival at 2 am.

The patient was just put on a saline and given some antibiotics and pain medication. No diagnostic test was done to find the source of the bleeding, neither was any blood given to the patient. Any doctor can tell you the treatment was wrong. First he gave a DMC number, but the number corresponded to someone else. So, he provided  a registration number of the Goa Medical Council, again it belonged to someone else.

This is an  example of  how modern medicine is detrimental in unsafe hands, that are functional without proper training. How these fake doctors openly call themselves doctors, use prefix of Dr and register themselves somehow.   It is no less than fraud with lives of innocent public.

Neglect towards this sad reality  is akin to playing with health of innocent people. Medical organizations and media  has either  not taken it seriously or not able to take any constructive step  in curbing this menace by quacks.

Although genuine doctors face many problems from system of quackery. Misuse of antibiotics, local goonism and nuisance, all kinds of malpractice, misguiding the patient are few examples. But ultimately it is the society who is  the sufferer. Therefore resistance to such practices and  a wish to have good health system is  actually need of society. Unless people themselves make a true effort towards a robust health system, this menace of quackery is likely to persist, due  to prevalence  of  vested interests.