Definition of Medical Quackery in India Needs to be Redefined

A recent article published in Times of India, entitled, "Docs Market Themselves with Fancy Degrees that Authorities say are Invalid," quite rightly condemns a certain form of quackery but does not address a far more dangerous form of quackery which masquerades as legitimate medicine.

I heartily agree with the author that quackery should not be tolerated.

However, the term quack is highly clichéd and has lost its actual meaning through abuse. I feel we should desist from incorrect usage.

Having worked for 15 years in various streams of healthcare practices across the globe, I believe that labeling ALL doctors whose degrees are not recognized in India as quacks is unfair! There are several doctors with valid degrees obtained abroad, who practice legitimate branches of medicine not currently available in India. Just because the Indian medical system does not recognize these degrees does not make them quacks.

There is a strong movement in the West (especially in the UK) to discredit Homoeopathy as quackery. Would India then discredit all Indian Homoeopathists as quacks, even those with certified degrees?

Would it be fair to address a qualified Ayurvedic doctor a quack in a western country, just because his degree is not recognized there?

The article mocks a doctor who "practices Siddha medicine which he learned not from a reputed institute, but from his uncle".

While the above tongue-in-cheek statement sounds justified, it is in fact erroneous.

It is only recently that we have copied the western system of medical education and artificially created degree programs for our native medicines. Ask any traditional Indian doctor and he will tell you that it takes years to become a skilled practitioner of Siddha, Ayurveda, etc...and this intricate system cannot be crammed into 4 or 5 years in a classroom.

All our indigenous forms of medicine such as Ayurveda and Siddha have been passed on for thousands of years from guru to shishya. So learning from one's uncle or grandfather (provided they are skilled practitioners) is actually the CORRECT way to learn the tradition of Siddha and should not be ridiculed. In fact, what we need to examine in these branches of medicine is NOT the certificate, but the KNOWLEDGE and SKILL of the doctor. This seems to be a forgotten priority in the Indian medical education system!

Let us not ape the West by following their system of medical education which may be suitable for allopathic education but not necessarily for our traditional systems. By moving to western-style degree programs we have clearly traded quality for quantity.

Why not let both approaches be recognized by the government (Degree Programs and Guru/Sishya).

And lastly, we need to look at another, (possibly uglier form of quackery), which does not seem to draw much attention.

There is a large group of quacks who go unchallenged in India. I call this group "Certified Quacks".

I am of course referring to those MBBS doctors who score low marks at the high school level, buy their way into medical colleges and though they have no aptitude for medicine, are allowed to practice legally because they have "Valid Degrees".

These doctors I believe pose a far greater threat to the public than the alleged "quacks" cited in the article. Here's why...

While the alleged "quacks" practice non-invasive therapies, the "Certified Quacks"

·         Practice invasive treatments (even surgery) causing far more harm (horror stories abound)

·         Prescribe potent drugs even though they are incompetent

·         Give the patient a false-sense of security because they have "Valid Degrees"

If TOI's investigation did chip deeper into the iceberg, they would also find, a long list of “real” doctors in corporate hospitals, who generously prescribe unwarranted tests and surgical procedures, to propitiate the management.

Quackery and corruption exist in all branches of Indian medicine, not only at the practitioner level, but also at the university and medical board levels.

Punishing a few individuals who comprise a very small part of the problem while giving the majority wrongdoers a free ride is either a hypocritical double standard or willful negligence.

In conclusion, we need to address two important issues:

    1.           Move government and public opinion to get our health authorities to revise our archaic laws such as Indian Medical Degrees Act 1916, Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945, Indian Medical Council Act 1954 in order to recognize doctors with overseas degrees in branches of medicine which are not covered by our current laws.

By stubbornly holding onto old laws, we are depriving the public of effective branches of medicine such as Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Energy Medicine, and many, many more.

  2.    Create public awareness on how to discriminate between "Real" doctors and Certified  Quacks"!