NMC asks state bodies to appoint officer to put quacks in the dock

Hyderabad: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has asked all the state Medical Councils to appoint an officer to file complaints before the court for taking action against quacks as per law.

The NMC EMRB (Ethics and Medical Registration Board) member Dr Yogendra Malik has written to the secretaries of the State Councils in connection with the bar to practice by the medical practitioners who were not registered/enrolled in the State Register or the National Register and the action against the act of quackery under section 34 read with section 54 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019.

He said, "As per section 34. Bar to practice. -(1) No person other than a person who is enrolled in the State Register or the National Register, as the case may be, shall be allowed to practice medicine as a qualified medical practitioner, hold office as a physician or surgeon or any other office, by whatever name called, which is meant to be held by a physician or surgeon, be entitled to sign or authenticate a medical or fitness certificate or any other certificate required by any law to be signed or authenticated by a duly qualified medical practitioner, be entitled to give evidence at any inquest or in any court of law as an expert under section 45 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 on any matter relating to medicine, provided that the Commission shall submit a list of such medical professionals to the Central Government in such manner as may be prescribed.

As per the provisions of the NMC Act, 2019, the act of quackery and the medical practice by the non-registered/enrolled person is a punishable offence under section 34, and the Court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under section 54 of the NMC Act upon a complaint in writing made in this behalf by an officer authorised by the Commission or the Ethics and Medical Registration Board or a State Medical Council. To enforce the provisions, all the State Medical Councils should appoint an officer to file complaints before the Court or other concerned authority to take appropriate action against quacks as per law. Further, the State Medical Councils have been asked to furnish an annual report to the Commission in this regard.