Allopathy doctors, avoid professional association with other medicos: MMC

Umesh.Isalkar@timesgroup.com

Pune: 17.12.2020

Maharashtra Medical Council, the governing body of allopathy doctors in the state, on Tuesday issued an advisory to its members to not “professionally associate” with non-allopathy practitioners. The council has also directed postgraduate allopathy doctors to mention the abbreviation of their graduation degree, MBBS, before the postgraduate degrees MS and MD on their clinic boards, letterheads and visiting cards, among others. The postgraduate degrees of ayurveda doctors are MD and MS too.

The move comes in the wake of the recent Union government notification allowing postgraduate ayurveda doctors who have specialized in shalya (surgery) and shalakya (diagnosis and prevention) to perform 58 procedures.

MMC reiterated the ultimate responsibility of treating a patient, where an allopathy doctor is professionally associated with a non-allopathy doctor, lies with the former alone under relevant sections of the law. Besides, allopathy doctors running nursing homes and hospitals should ensure that a non-allopathy doctor working as an assistant does not issue a prescription of allopathy drugs with the latter’s signature.

MMC president Shivkumar Utture said, “This advisory is already there in the Indian Medical Council Regulations and MMC Act. We have simply reiterated it to sensitise our members and safeguard patients’ interests.”

In circumstances where an allopathy doctor has to employ a non-allopathy doctor or work in hospitals run by non-medicos or non-allopathy doctors, the entire responsibility of the patient’s treatment lies with him or her, the advisory stated.

Pune’s senior paediatrician and MMC member Dilip Sarda said, “First, the registered medical practitioners or allopaths should not professionally associate with non-allopaths. If they have to, then the onus of treating a patient lies solely with the allopath.”

Telemedicine could prove a better tool for registered medical practitioners employing non-allopathy doctors as assistants at their clinics, nursing homes and hospitals.

“Digital signatures, prescriptions and telemedicine are valid tools under the law. The allopaths can use them to the fullest while running the operations of nursing homes and hospitals,” said Sanjay Patil, state vicepresident of IMA.

The MMC advisory was issued under the relevant regulations and sections of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, and MMC Act, 1965.