Kolkata, The West Bengal Health Department has initiated a probe into allegations that five people were practising medicine in the state with fake degrees obtained from Bihar, a senior official said on Saturday.
The association has alleged that two of the five persons were engaged at civic clinics and one was a government doctor. The HN has also raised the possibility of illegal financial transactions. “If someone has been practising medicine with a fake or illegal registration number, there can be no more serious offence.
The Association of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes has complained that several patients treated by these five accused two in North 24 Parganas and three in South 24 Parganas have died and government healthcare schemes, such as ‘Swasthya Sathi’, may have been misused, said its secretary Rajib Pandey. There is also a risk that many lives may have been lost as a result, which is an extreme disgrace to the medical profession,” Biswas said.
It said that these cases could point to a racket involved in procuring forged MBBS and post-graduate medical qualifications from other states to secure registration in West Bengal. West Bengal Doctors Forum president Kaushik Chaki said the allegations, if established, would have serious implications for public health. “If these allegations are true, this is not merely an administrative error; it is a grave crime against public health,” he said, adding that verifying an applicant’s educational qualifications and previous registration was a basic responsibility of the medical council and those responsible for any failure could not evade accountability. Service Doctors Forum general secretary Sajal Biswas said practising medicine with a fake registration was an extremely serious offence.
