West Bengal Health Department probes 5 doctors over alleged fake degrees
Kolkata: Doctors in West Bengal have been accused of using forged MBBS and postgraduate certificates purportedly issued from Bihar to obtain medical registration and practise across the state.
According to PTI, the Association of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes (APHN) has complained that several patients treated by these five accused -- two in North 24 Parganas and three in South 24 Parganas -- have died and government healthcare schemes, such as 'Swasthya Sathi', may have been misused, said its secretary Rajib Pandey.
The association has alleged that the accused doctors obtained medical registration in West Bengal after submitting certificates claiming that they had completed their MBBS from the Bihar Medical Council. It claimed that the certificates issued in the name of the Bihar Medical Council are fake and said it attached a report from the Bihar Medical Council in support of its allegations.
Along with the complaint, the association also submitted prescriptions allegedly issued by the doctors, NOCs and documents available on the West Bengal Medical Council's portal.
The association has further alleged that several patients treated under the supervision of the accused doctors have died. It has sought an independent investigation to determine whether there is any connection between the alleged fake qualifications and the treatment provided.
"If any professional misconduct is established, appropriate action should be taken according to law," the organisation said in its letter.
It also alleged that the accused individuals or institutions may have received funds under Swasthya Sathi and other government healthcare schemes on the basis of allegedly false qualifications and registrations, reports Bhaskar English.
The West Bengal Health Department has initiated a probe into allegations that five people were practising medicine in the state with fake degrees obtained from Bihar, a senior official said on Saturday.
West Bengal Doctors Forum president Kaushik Chaki said the allegations, if established, would have serious implications for public health. "If these allegations are true, this is not merely an administrative error; it is a grave crime against public health," he said, adding that verifying an applicant's educational qualifications and previous registration was a basic responsibility of the medical council, and those responsible for any failure could not evade accountability, reports PTI.
Service Doctors Forum general secretary Sajal Biswas said practising medicine with a fake registration was an extremely serious offence. He said that if someone had been practising medicine with a fake or illegal registration number, there could be no more serious offence.
Biswas added that there was also a risk that many lives may have been lost as a result, calling it an extreme disgrace to the medical profession.
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