Bridge course for homoeopaths to practice allopathy stands invalid as petition on crosspathy yet to be disposed off
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Shardul Nautiyal, Mumbai
December 08 , 2016
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The Maharashtra government’s decision to allow homoeopathic doctors in
the state to prescribe allopathic medicines on completion of a one-year
bridge course in pharmacology stands invalid as per a Bombay High Court
directive stating that petition on crosspathy filed by Maharashtra
Medical Council (MMC) and Medical Council of India (MCI) is yet to be
disposed off.
Homeopaths cannot practice allopathy as the matter
is sub judice in the court and stands invalid in the absence of a clear
verdict by the HC on the petition, according to a senior official
associated with the development.
The government cited shortage of
allopathic doctors in rural areas for passing the decision. Union
health ministry had asked the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM)
to develop bridge courses for Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani doctors to
provide them competency to practice preventive, promotive, curative and
rehabilitative allopathic medicine in respect to the commonly
encountered health problems.
CCIM is the statutory body
constituted under the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970. The
main object of the council is to prescribe minimum standards of
education in Indian Systems of Medicine.
MMC and MCI had
petitioned four months ago to the Bombay HC in opposition to crosspathy
practised in the state wherein Ayurveda and Homoeopathy practitioners
are allowed to prescribe allopathy medicines which is not in accordance
to the MMC Act.
With the recently dissolved MMC looking at a
revival with notification of elections in December this year, the
petition on crosspathy will be considered and decision on the same will
be taken by the newly formed council based on the court proceedings
post-elections. The petition on crosspathy was submitted along with the
petition on notifying elections this year almost four months ago. MMC
is set to go for election on December 18, 2016 based on the state
government notification and has decided to chalk out a future course of
action on cases related to crosspathy in the state.
The
notification on elections has come as a welcome surprise for MMC in view
of the fact that its administration was not running effectively as the
present Council's five year tenure got over on May 21, 2016.
Now
since the elections have been notified, the council will decide the
future course of action on pending petition on crosspathy in the HC
after the elections are over. The council had come to a standstill after
a committee appointed by the state government had found fault in its
functioning. The council had also raised objection on the appointment of
an administrator Dr Abhay Chowdhary in a unilateral manner by the state
government.
Nine members will be elected to the Council which
essentially comprises 18 members, out of which five will be appointed by
the government. It will also have a member of the Maharashtra
University of Health Sciences (MUHS).
MMC, the quasi judicial
body representing 83,000 doctors in the state, had sent two letters on
notifying elections in the month of April and May this year but didn’t
get any response from the state government.
MMC had also remained
defunct from 1998 to 2010 following a Bombay High Court order that
suspended it due to irregularities in the election of members and
maintenance of register which led to the backlog of over 600 cases which
are now with the council since it took over in 2012 after being defunct
for 12 years.
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