MUMBAI: Doctors have announced a one-day boycott of medical services following a government resolution (GR) dated August 3, which allowed homeopaths who have completed a one-year certificate course to enter modern medicine.They warned that if the decision is not rolled back, the strike will be extended to emergency services indefinitely.According to the GR, the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) can initiate conditional registration for homeopaths holding a Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP).
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“This means they can start prescribing modern medicines the minute they receive their registration,” said an MMC official, adding that the situation is now beyond the council’s control.There are 2,500 applicants before MMC as of now, and 10,000 more are expected to apply in the coming days.Dr Santosh Kulkarni, state IMA president, said the move is bound to be dangerous to the well-being of common people.The GR has constituted a committee to decide on matters such as medical ethics, and negligence case-handling procedures and has called for a report within a month.It will be headed by the medical education commissioner and will have other members from the medical education department, MMC, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, and homeopathy council.The committee’s report is expected in a month. Until then, there is no grievance mechanism within MMC to deal with cases of medical negligence by homeopaths.He said IMA’s 1.5 lakh members, with the Association of State Medical Interns, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, and other associations of specialty doctors such as ENT surgeons will all be on strike through Tuesday.This would impact out-patient-department patients and no new admission would be accepted.The response to the strike could be lukewarm in the city as last year, clinics and hospitals in Mumbai remained open despite IMA’s call for a strike, but in other parts of the state, the strike had received a large response.Dr Atharva Shinde, president of MARD, said that around 12,000 resident doctors across the state will go on an indefinite strike, boycotting emergency services as well, starting Tuesday evening.The MMC official added, “No sensible person would want this, but our hands are tied. It would be unlawful for us to not implement it,” the official added.The Bombay High Court’s decision on the matter is expected by mid-August. Dr Kulkarni alleged that the move was rushed to benefit politically connected homeopathic colleges across the state, many of which have ties to influential politicians and political families, whose admission cycles run through August to capitalise on substantial donation sums.
