Days after the Supreme Court and a Parliamentary panel gave stinging observations on working of Medical Council of India (MCI), a group of doctors from across the country on Wednesday launched a ‘campaign for medical council reform’ seeking removal of the entire leadership of the medical education regulator, accusing them of allowing massive corruption.
The doctors also termed as “worrying” the “silence” of the Health Ministry on the findings of the House panel. The coalition may draft a model Act if the Government does not take any step in this regard, Dr Abhay Shukla, a senior physician from AIIMS said at a Press conference here.
Commenting on the collusion between MCI and private medical colleges, Dr GS Grewal, President of Punjab Medical Council alleged it was common knowledge that some of the MCI members prefer “gold instead of cash” and overlook the concept of “ghost faculty”. “A stronger mechanism for ethical oversight of medical practice and the legislation governing the oversight of professional conduct of doctors should be made more specific with provision for transparency and time-lines,” said Dr KV Babu, a physician from Kannur.
A book, Dissenting Diagnosis, containing first person accounts of doctors detailing exploitation of patients in hospitals and labs in India which is authored by Dr Arun Gadre, a Pune-based gynecologist and Dr Shukla was also launched.
Dr Jasodhara Dasgupta of Medico Friend Circle and Dr Samiran Nundy, a senior surgeon, were among others who called for immediate overhauling of the MCI.