NATIONAL 5 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Quacks Concerns

A doctor kills a patient while the Medical Council overlooking his fake certificates awarded him the license to practice.

By AKSHAY SHARMA

Rathor Shree Rana Surya Shastri who is now in prision facing the charges of killing a person, is a typical example of how the quacks are taking the lives of naive patients.

Awarded the licence to practice by the Medical Council, Shastri, an Indian citizen, convinced 50 year old Ratna Thapa that he could remake his broken finger by extracting a rib and planting it on the finger. The operation was performed at National Hospital and Research Center at Chhetrapati. A payment of fifty thousand rupees was demanded for the operation. According to the reprot, the operation was performed in the presence of then chief of the Medical Council as the anaesthesist.

Soon after surgery the patient got infection and was transferred to Patan Hospital after his condition became critical. But the doctors could not save the life of Ratna Thapa.

Phul Maya Cheetri, a resident of Sarlahi district, was admitted to the Birgunj hospital last year after taking a medicine prescribed by a spurious medical practioner. After the formal complaint, police found that the doctor had a fake medical certificate. Strangely, the medicine used by the patient was out-dated.

It is not sporadic incidents limited to rural areas . Another quack was arrested last year on charges of killing a man during plastic surgery. In both these cases, the phony doctors had got licence to practice from Nepal Medical Council.

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Although both events have rocked the country, no efforts have been made to control the flow of fake certificates. It is said that large number of medical practioners are coming from different bordering Indian states.The growth of private hospitals and nursing homes in the country has made it easier for such doctors who come here looking for jobs.

As number of nursing homes are said to be taking unregulated amount of money from patients, many cases related to fake-certifacte doctors are coming up and the medical establishment are being alleged with malpractice.

"Bad quality medicines have been known to be in circulation. Medical reports that suggest different things after each pathology tests are becoming common. Whatever the effect on consumers, these types of hazards have not been criticized by people and the right authorities," said a senior doctor on condition of anonymity.

Nepal Medical Council issues the licence to new medical graduates who finish their studies either in Nepal or abroad.

According to the Nepal Medical Council Act, before granting licence to practice, the original academic certificates of the would-be doctors have to be checked and certified by senior doctors.

As the licence depends on the senior doctor and the certification of Medical Counci, it is mysterious to see such a large number of doctors with fake certificates practising in urban and rural areas.

"TheMedical Council has to take responsibility for the current problems existing in society," said a senior doctor at Bir Hospital.

Rathor was arrested by the police after the failed operation. But no law in the land can convict Rathor and his colleagues for murder. After the incident, Rathor's certificates were made public by the Medical Council and his licence was cancelled.

Rathor who has a Nepali citizenship and certificates from Delhi University on Surgery and Medical Science revealed that his certificates including the citizenship were fake. The big question is how did the Chief of the Medical Council who certified Rathor missed this very important detail ? Another question is how did Rathor get hold of Nepali citizenship and passport?

It is not up to the ordinary Nepali consumers to question the credibility of doctors. Another better equipped group of people are appointed to tackle this problem. It is up to the Medical Council to make sure that doctors like Rathor are filtered from practicing.

Doctors agree that the pathology reports on same diseases can be found to be different. The academic qualification for pathologists and related field is SLC and one year training . To run a pathology the law requires that it be registered at the Department of Cottage Industries. But there is no record that this requirement is being rightly used. A wrong pathology report can prove fatal at times.

The Medical Council is also planning to license the people who finished their MBBS studies right after their SLC. These people who went to Medical schools without ISc are not given recognition by the Medical Council.

The unregulated supply of fake certificates from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India is affecting the general public. People with these types of academic certificates are allowed to mingle with people who after a hard time earned their academic certificates. This type of behavior from the concerned authorities will certainly give way to incidents like this.