Medical Council suspends Govt Doctor over carelessness in issuing certificate to patient

As the Council opined that the doctor did not have any personal motif and it was mainly because of carelessness that he had issued the medical certificate, the duration for suspension has been fixed at one week only.

An assistant professor of the Government Thanjavur Medical College was accused for issuing a fake medical certificate to a man, who used it for getting bail. In that certificate, issued on August 19, 2021, the doctor had stated that he had treated the patient from April 1, 2020 till September 26, 2020.

The Hindu adds that the patient had 1.5 kg of ganja in his possession and for that reason, he was arrested by police.

The patient claimed that he had met an accident on the previous day and submitted a medical certificate signed by the Government Medical College doctor to support his claim.However, the police started investigating the matter and found that the claims made by the patient were false.

Consequently, the HC bench directed police for taking action against the man and also directed the Tamil Nadu Medical Council for initiating appropriate action against the Government doctor.

Acting on the HC's directions, the State Medical Council issued a show cause notice to the doctor and accused him for "issuing a false certificate in violation of regulation 7.7 of Code of Medical Ethics regulations 2003".

Responding to the show cause notice, the doctor explained that he had treated the patient in his private clinic for injury in the left ankle. However, after the first visit, the patient, who had approached the doctor with tendon injury, didn't visit the clinic till September 20, 2020. It was further explained by the doctor that the patient had come back after months and had requested for a treatment certificate.

Also Read: Medical council warning in Tamil Nadu: Doctors not to issue life certificates without knowing someone personally

As per the latest media report by The Hindu, the doctor issued the certificate on humanitarian ground as the patient had complained of pain while standing.

However, the disciplinary committee of the Medical Council held the doctor guilty of misconduct as the doctor had issued the certificate after checking the patient for just once, without using the usual format for medical certificates. Besides, as per the seal on the letter, the doctor had issued the certificate in his official capacity.

Taking action against the doctor, the council suspended him for one week, beginning on March 15. TNMC has further asked the doctor for surrendering his registration certificate.

While commenting on the matter, Dr. K. Senthil, the President of TNMC told Medical Dialogues, "The doctor was held guilty for issuing the certificate after seeing the patient only once. The patient had misused it to get bail and the HC instructed the Council to inquire the matter."

"The doctor did not have any personal motif for issuing the certificate. It was mainly carelessness on the doctor's part as he issued the certificate without checking the patient in between. Besides, part of the certificate was true as the doctor had treated the patient. So, as a token of punishment, the doctor has been suspended for one week," he added.