NMC Warning: Doctors to face punitive action for displaying unrecognised qualifications

New Delhi: Writing to the State Medical Councils, the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) recently warned about the use of fake/unrecognized qualifications by doctors and asked the State Medical Bodies to spread awareness about the NMC regulations in this regard especially in respect of the punitive action that the doctors may face for this reason.

The letter from the NMC Ethics Board comes after the Commission took note of instances where registered medical practitioners claimed to be a specialist despite not having the requisite qualifications in a particular branch.

Referring to this, the Ethics Board of NMC mentioned in the letter dated August 18, 2023, "Instances have come to the notice of Ethics and Medical Registration Board where registered Medical Practitioners claim to be a specialist without having requisite qualification in a particular branch."

"The issue of self-proclaimed specialist or super specialist with unrecognized medical degrees and diplomas has also been raised by organizations working in the field," further mentioned the letter.

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To make public and unregistered doctors aware of such unethical practices, the Commission felt it necessary to spread the message against this practice of using fake medical degrees by registered medical practitioners along with the punitive actions that the doctors might face for this reason.

Referring to this, the Undersecretary of NMC Ethics Board, Manish Kumar Mittal mentioned in the letter, "In order to increase the awareness of the common citizens as well as unregistered doctors on unethical practices across all the States in India, it is necessary to spread the message against the use of any fake/unrecognized medical degrees by Registered Medical Practitioners and the punitive action that comes with it, including suspension/cancellation of their medical registrations in accordance to the law."

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"In this regard, all SMCs are requested to spread awareness about provisions contained in Regulations of NMC according to which Registered Medical Practitioner shall not claim to be a clinical specialist unless he/she has NMC recognized training & qualification in that specific branch of modern medicine," it further added.

Also Read: After Telangana, Now Jharkhand Medical Council warns Doctors against displaying Unrecognized Medical Qualifications