TSMC Crackdown on Quackery, 400 FIRs filed against Quacks
Hyderabad: In an effort to safeguard the public health and curb the growing menace of quacks posing as Rural Medical Practitioners (RMPs) in Telangana, the Telangana State Medical Council (TSMC) has filed 400 FIRs over the past year and issued notices to 40 doctors suspected of aiding these illegal practitioners.
This initiative targets individuals practising allopathy under the guise of Rural Medical Practitioners (RMPs) without holding an MBBS degree.
Recognizing the urgent need to curb quackery, the current senior office-bearers of the Telangana State Medical Council have launched a concerted effort to address the issue. For the first time, the Telangana State Medical Council has teamed up with the TS Drug Control Administration (TSDCA), to take legal action on individuals with no MBBS degree but practising allopathy, reports Telangana Today.
In addition to focusing on curbing quackery, the Telangana State Medical Council (TSMC) has introduced several reforms that benefit registered doctors in the state. Over the past year, the Council's office-bearers reduced the registration and renewal fees by 50 per cent for all doctors. Moreover, senior doctors above the age of 65 have been exempted from paying renewal fees altogether.
The TSMC has collaborated with the National Medical Commission (NMC) to conduct a training and workshop aimed at improving the handling of misconduct and appeal cases. The training, held in Hyderabad, was attended by professors from various government medical colleges in the state. The State Medical Council has rolled out online renewals and is now issuing good-standing certificates online, eliminating the need for doctors to visit in person and saving them valuable time, reports the Daily.
As per the recent media report by Telangana Today, vice-chairman of TSMC, Dr G Srinivas said, “Earlier, doctors used to stand in lone queues to get such paperwork done. There was a time when doctors used to visit the Council office and reserve their position in the queue by marking it with their names on a piece of paper. Now, everything is online.”
The Council also recently granted accreditation to six scientific doctor associations, including IMA Warangal, API (Association of Physicians of India), and ISA, to conduct Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs in district areas. These programs are designed to offer half or one credit point, under the guidelines set by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
