Hyderabad: The Telangana State Medical Council (TGSMC) has filed 300 FIRs against 70,000 quacks functioning across state since February 2024.
Addressing the issue, vice chairman of the TGMC, Dr Srinivas Gundagani said, “As per the National Medical Commission Act sections 34 and 54 none can practice modern allopathic medicine without the registration of an MBBS degree. It is also as per the Telangana Medical Practitioner Registration act.”
As per sections 34 and 54 of the National Medical Council Act 2019, the quacks could be punished with one year of imprisonment and a penalty of Rs 5 lakh could be imposed on them. Section 54 of the NMC Act states that doctors who are registered under the local medical council or NMC can practice modern medicine.
He further said, “For a very long time, over 70,000 quacks conducted unscientific treatments across Telangana. quackery is prevalent across India, hence the TGMC’s main agenda is to irradiate quackery from Telangana.”
Quackery poses a major global threat through anti bacterial resistance, most people use several anti-biotics, IV steroids which are available at their premises.
Anti quackery committees have been set up all over Telangana. Each committee which conducts raids across hospitals and collects data on the rural medical practitioners and the medicines and injections possessed by them.
Each anti quackery committee has five members from the TGMC, who along with members of the Healthcare Reform Doctors Association (HRDA) and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) inspect hospitals across the state.
“During the raids it was found that the quacks administered high amount of anti biotics for mild fevers. Most quacks have steroids such as Dexamethasone, Meropenem injections which are high quantity steroids,” the vice chairman said.
Gundagani went on to add that the rural medical practitioners possess delivery kits and have been administering injections as cetrorelix which are prescribed by gynecologists. “This is irrational use of drugs and irrational management of therapy leading to global threat. for instancein Khammam an RMP conducted a circumcision where the penis of the patient was cutoff. In an incident from Warangal a patient suffering from fever was administered seven injections in one hour causing the patients died.”
The doctor urged the government not to provide training to quacks and deploy qualified doctors at primary health centers since some of the centers are being operated by contract medical workers. Citing the National Medical Commission (NMC) data, the TGSMC vice chairman said Telangana has 46 percent deficiency of community health centers and 26 percent deficiency of primary health centers.
The vice chairman also expressed willingness to work in coordination with the Drug Control Administration (DCA) to strengthen the drive against quacks. “DCA Director Kamalasan Reddy has visited us a couple of times and the TGMC would definitely like to work in coordination with them, he added.
