Stringent check of med credentials need of hour

Representative image. Pic/ istock

The cops have registered a case against a 55-year-old man for allegedly treating patients by using the degree of a dead doctor in Thane. The accused had studied only till Std X and had been treating patients at an Ulhasnagar hospital on the registration of a doctor who had died in 2019. A medical officer from the Ulhasnagar civic body learnt about the fraud.

Through Covid times especially, we have had reports of certain fake doctors in medical practice. It is shocking to say the least that these criminals have been practising with impunity for months if not years.

This paper has carried reports about fake doctors administering treatments for years. Some self-styled doctors profiteered in a climate of fear and uncertainty during the pandemic. We have had ‘fakes' attached to hospitals for a couple of years before they are found out. These are disturbing and dangerous incidents which may seem innocuous on the surface.

Every medical facility needs to do extremely stringent background checks to make sure all these so-called credentials and degrees have veracity. They need to employ a professional agency for these checks, and once sure that this is watertight and bona fide, only then employ the person. By working through professionals there are less chances of these verification tests falling though there may be a chance that a conman might slip in.

We need to be extremely alert, and facilities that unknowingly employ these cons, very responsive and proactive if complaints are raised. Investigations must be carried out rather than matters being swept under the carpet as some establishments may do, to save face or name of the facility. Medical councils must intervene and mete out harsh punishment to these individuals as they have put so many lives at risk. The new normal should be a tough, non-negotiable approach to this vexing problem.