KOCHI: Back-to-back incidents of MBBS doctors being caught practising as specialists without requisite qualification have raised an alarm bell in the state prompting the government to direct the police to book the offenders without any delay.
In a latest, a senior doctor of a leading private hospital in Tiruvalla was booked by police for allegedly practising as a paediatrician without the specified qualification.Police officers said a case was registered against the doctor identified as Dr Samson K Sam, of Tiruvalla, on October 6 based on a complaint lodged by another doctor.
As per the case registered with Tiruvalla police station, the accused was working in a leading private hospital in Tiruvalla from 2017 as a specialist paediatrician after falsely claiming to have cleared Diploma in Child Health (DCH) and have worked abroad as a paediatrician.“Our probe revealed that the accused even displayed DCH along with his name on the hospital website to convince people that he is a paediatrician,” said a police officer.
“MBBS degree is only enough for a person to practise as a doctor and treat any kind of health ailments.
But to practise as an expert in a specific medical field like nephrology or oncology, one needs to get that specific additional certification/qualification from institutes recognised by the medical council,” said Dr Maria Varghese, president of Kochi unit of Indian Medical Association (IMA).
This is the third incident in the state this year in which a MBBS doctor was caught practising as a specialist without qualification. In the first case, the Travancore Cochin Council of Modern Medicine (TCMC) took action against a Kasaragod-based doctor identified as Subrahmanya Bhat K for practising as a consultant sonologist without the requisite qualification.
Similarly, a doctor practising as gynaecologist at Karunagappally Taluk Hospital was suspended from service for holding a fake PG certificate. Dr T S Seema, junior consultant at the hospital, was found to be in possession of a fake medical PG certificate.