Pune: Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, Indian Medical Association, Association of State Medical Interns, and Maharashtra Association of Medical Officers on Tuesday wrote to the Union and state health ministers expressing their strong opposition to state govt’s decision allowing homeopathic doctors (BHMS) who had completed one-year certificate course in modern pharmacology (CCMP) to practise allopathy. This comes on the eve of the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) beginning registration of CCMP-passed doctors with it, as per the govt resolution dated Sept 5.MMC administrator Dr Rughwani Vinki Mohanlal confirmed that the registration will start on Wednesday. “However, let me be clear that homeopathic doctors will not be equivalent to allopathic doctors. We will formulate a standard operating procedure (SOP) limiting their allopathic practice,” he said. However, the allopathic associations claimed that since the homeopathic doctors were already registered with the Maharashtra Homeopathy Council, there was no need to register them with MMC. Their statements highlighted that registering CCMP homeopathic doctors with MMC would mean ignoring the training of allopathic doctors who worked hard for many years. Therefore, it is a threat to patients’ safety and reduces the credibility of evidence-based medicine, they said. On Tuesday, resident doctors under the banner of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) and trainee doctors from govt medical colleges in the state wore black ribbons at work as a mark of protest. Dr Sachin Patil, president, central MARD, said, “The peaceful demonstration was held for the protection of public health in Maharashtra and integrity of modern medicine. On Sept 18 (Thursday), we will conduct a token one-day statewide protest.” Vijay Pawar, state president, Maharashtra State Homeopathic Doctors’ Action Committee, said CCMP was approved by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) and so they would not need an SOP to practise allopathy. “We had a separate govt-formed committee that determined the subjects to be taught under CCMP, the scope of allopathic practice, and the colleges where these courses would be taught. Despite this, Dr Mohanlal is adamant about an SOP, which is illegal. The court (Bombay high court) never stayed the course or the registration (of homeopathic doctors with MMC),” Pawar said. Dr Mohanlal is simply propagating IMA’s agenda, Pawar claimed. “We will be forced to stage a protest against Dr Mohanlal if he continues to insist on a separate SOP and withholds the registration. Once the registration is done, we will start practising allopathy,” Pawar said, adding 9,170 BHMS doctors have so far completed CCMP. MUHS started offering CCMP in 2016 following amendments made to the Maharashtra Homeopathic Medical Practitioners’ Act and the Maharashtra Medical Council Act in 2014. The course enables registered homeopathic practitioners in Maharashtra to be trained in modern medicine.
