Health Ministry asks NMC to act on appeals against state medical council decisions
New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry has asked the National Medical Commission (NMC) to take appropriate action as per law about deciding the appeals filed by non-Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) against the decisions of the State Medical Councils.
Action from the Union Health Ministry comes after the issue was raised by Health Activist Dr. KV Babu, who submitted a representation before the Ministry regarding the interpretation and applicability of Regulation 8.8 and Regulation 1.9 of the MCI Ethics Regulations, 2002 read with the provisions of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019.
He urged the Ministry to issue directions to the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB), of the NMC to decide appeals filed by non-Registered Medical Practitioners against the decisions of State Medical Councils.
Apart from this, the doctor also requested the setting up of an appropriate body to examine the alleged acts of omission and commission by certain Registered Medical Practitioners for contravention of Regulation 1.9 of the MCI Ethics Regulations, 2002.
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In response, the Ministry has now forwarded the doctor's representation to the NMC. Writing to the Secretary of the Apex Medical Commission, the Ministry said, "As the issues raised fall within the statutory domain of the National Medical Commission, the representation is hereby forwarded to the NMC for examination and appropriate action, as deemed fit under the provisions of the NMC Act, 2019 and the regulations framed thereunder."
"The National Medical Commission is requested to take necessary action in accordance with law and to apprise this Ministry of the outcome," it added.
Even though non-RMPs could earlier approach the erstwhile Medical Council of India against the State Medical Council decisions, the rules regarding this changed after the NMC replaced the MCI.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that NMC had rejected 65 appeals moved by patients or their families between March to September 2022 on the grounds of non-maintainability.
These appeals were rejected as per 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)."
Over the last couple of years, Dr. Babu had been contending that the patients have the right to fille an appeal against the SMC rulings under Section 8.8 of the Ethics Regulations, 2002.
Section 8.8 of the MCI Ethics Regulations 2002 states, "Any person aggrieved by the decision of the State Medical Council on any complaint against a delinquent physician, shall have the right to file an appeal to the MCI within a period of 60 days from the date of receipt of the order passed by the said Medical Council: Provided that the MCI may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from presenting the appeal within the aforesaid period of 60 days, allow it to be presented within a further period of 60 days."
Recently, bringing good news to the public, NMC decided to take up their appeals against state medical councils' orders. The Commission decided that all appeals by the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) would be entertained. NMC mentioned this decision in the minutes of the 16th meeting held on 23rd September 2024. However, despite such a decision, on February 21, 2025, NMC rejected the appeal by a patient from Punjab's Amritsar.
Back in 2023, the Central Government put the proposal to amend the NMC Act 2019 allowing the patients and their relatives to challenge the decisions of the State Medical Councils (SMCs) before the NMC Ethics Board on hold. The Government itself put forth the proposal for amending the NMC Act 2019.
Dr Babu has now raised the matter before the Union Health Ministry. In a letter addressed to the Ministry, he pointed out that the NMC decided not to allow appeals from patients during the meeting held on 06.10.2021. "A combined reading of section 30(3) & 61(2) of NMC Act makes it clear that ,regulations 8.8 will be in force on 06/10/21 , on the day of 4th meeting of the NMC," he pointed out in his representation.
In the letter, he sought directions from NMC to decide on all appeals by non-RMPs against the decisions of SMCs. He also sought action against the 27 RMPs, who were NMC members during the 4th meeting, for contravention of 1.9 of MCI ethics regulations 2002, as per which, "The physician shall observe the laws of the country in regulating the practice of medicine and shall also not assist others to evade such laws."
"Those 27 NMC members, who happened to be doctors should be made accountable for the illegal decision. It's for the Ministry of Health to act. This is a step in the right direction," he told Medical Dialogues.
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