No report on Bias or transparency issues in NMC: Health Minister Tells Parliament

New Delhi: Responding to the concerns raised on the alleged lack of transparency in the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the possible bias in favour of the doctors at the expense of the patients, the Minister of State for Health, Smt. Anupriya Patel refuted such claims and stated that "No such report has been received in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare."

Further, the MoS Health informed the Parliament that the Ethics Board of NMC regulates the professional conduct and promotes medical ethics amongst doctors and the mechanism to handle complaint (s) with regard to professional misconduct by doctors are provided under Clause 8.2 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.

The Minister was responding to questions raised by Dr. M. Thambidurai, who sought to know if the Government was aware of the reports stating that NMC lacks transparency and is biased in favour of doctors at the expense of patients. He also sought to know the steps taken by the Government to ensure that NMC functions transparently and fairly.

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In response, MoS Health Smt Patel informed, "No such report has been received in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Further, the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of National Medical Commission (NMC) regulates the professional conduct and promotes medical ethics amongst the medical professionals. Further, Clause 8.2 of Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 provides for a mechanism to handle complaint(s) with regard to professional misconduct by the medical professional (s)."

"To ensure that the NMC functions in a transparent and fair manner, the Central Government appoints amongst others the Chairperson, Presidents of four Autonomous Boards as per the NMC Act, 2019 and Rules made their under. Also, as per Section 4 of the said Act, there are ten ex-officio Members in the Commission which also include heads of medical institutions of national repute. NMC also has twenty-two part-time members drawn from States and elected members of the State Medical Councils," Minister Patel further added.

As per Clause 8.2 of Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, "any complaint with regard to professional misconduct can be brought before the appropriate Medical Council for Disciplinary action. Upon receipt of any complaint of professional misconduct, the appropriate Medical Council would hold an enquiry and give opportunity to the registered medical practitioner to be heard in person or by pleader. If the medical practitioner is found to be guilty of committing professional misconduct, the appropriate Medical Council may award such punishment as deemed necessary or may direct the removal altogether or for a specified period, from the register of the name of the delinquent registered practitioner. Deletion from the Register shall be widely publicized in local press as well as in the publications of different Medical Associations/ Societies/Bodies."

Previously, under Section 8.8 of the MCI Ethics Regulations 2002, any person (doctors or non medical professionals) could challenge the decision of the State Medical Council before the Apex Medical Commission.

However, after NMC replaced the erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI), it has reportedly been rejecting patients' appeals stating that only medical practitioners could file an appeal before the NMC under the NMC Act 2019.

Section 30(3) of the NMC Act 2019 which states, "(3) A medical practitioner or professional who is aggrieved by any action taken by a State Medical Council under sub-section (2) may prefer an appeal to the Ethics and Medical Registration Board against such action, and the decision, if any, of the Ethics and Medical Registration Board thereupon shall be binding on the State Medical Council, unless a second appeal is preferred under sub-section (4)."

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