Telangana Medical Council filed 500 FIRs against quacks

The Telangana Medical Council has filed FIRs against 500 unqualified medical practitioners across the state, most of whom falsely claimed to be rural doctors. TGMC officials said such practitioners pose a serious threat by treating patients without proper medical qualifications

Hyderabad: In its fight to curb the menace of quackery, which involves unqualified individuals performing the duties of allopathy doctors by prescribing medicines and treating patients, the Telangana Medical Council (TGMC) has filed FIRs against 500 Unqualified Medical Practitioners (UMPs) across the State.

The sheer number of FIRs filed against quacks in just over a year reflects how extensive the problem of quackery is in Telangana. Most of the quacks detected by the TGMC call themselves Rural Medical Practitioners (RMPs), a term that mimics the abbreviation of Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs), who are the actual doctors with an MBBS degree.

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“They are calling themselves rural medical practitioners and administering medicine and extending treatment to patients without any qualification, thus endangering lives. Legally, Rural Medical Practitioners are not recognised as doctors. They neither possess valid qualifications nor are they authorised to practise medicine,” says TGMC Vice Chairman Dr G Srinivas.

In the past, TGMC teams have often acted more quickly and decisively than district health authorities in detecting quacks and initiating action.

According to senior doctors, “The district health department is the registered authority for all health care establishments and they should take action on such facilities. At present, however, they take action only after the Council starts filing FIRs on quacks,” senior doctors said.

On Wednesday, the TGMC said that it has filed FIRs against five unqualified medical practitioners in Siddipet town. Cases were filed against K S Prasad of Prasad First Aid Center at Gandhi Nagar; Murali, in-charge of Bhargavi First Aid Center, Indira Nagar; A Sudhakar Reddy of Raja Rajeshwari First Aid Center, Gandhi Nagar; D Nagaraju for managing Sathvika Clinic near NGO’s Colony; and Vitthoba for operating Vitthoba Varalakshmi First Aid Center near Kotilingala Temple.