After the first homeopath was allowed to register on August 4, ten more practitioners received tier certification on September 1. MUMBAI: Bringing the curtain down on a bitter battle, the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) recently gave homeopaths the go-ahead to prescribe allopathic medicine, a privilege still being congested in the courts.
homeopaths were allowed to register with the MMC after taking a year-long ‘bridge’ course – a Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP) Although not a full licence to practice allopathy. It allows them to write prescriptions for the treatment of various medical conditions, including medical emergencies. However, doctors who practice modern medicine view this as a misstep, a breach in the demarcation between traditional and modern systems of medicine. Armed with an MBBS degree and post-graduate specialisations that take years to acquire, they say opening this door could impact patient safety and the standards of modern medical practice. “This registration from the MMC makes no difference to the patients who come to me. They just want to be treated. When you are treating a patient, you are only a doctor.”
For instance, Dr Prashant Bhoir, 50, a homeopath from Bhiwandi who received his certification on September 1, says he is a native of the Agri community and the only doctor that serves his community in Bhiwandi. Most patients who come to Dr Akshay Gharpude, 33 in the remote Savleshwar village in Mohol taluka of Solapur, seek quick relief. “Most of the 3,500 villagers here want quick treatment as they want to resume work in their fields. Dr Vijay Wayal, 49, from Jaffrabad village in Jalna district, received his registration to prescribe allopathic medicine after 25 years of practice. “Of the 12 doctors serving the 25,000 people in our panchayat, all except one were Ayush doctors.
Because of the joint efforts of all doctors across all streams of medicine, such disasters were controlled.
Bhoir says he continues to do what he has been doing – now with legal sanction. He says there are only three doctors in the village and none of them is an allopathic practitioner. They simply cannot afford to take time off or lose wages even for a day,” he says. Only recently, three doctors with MBBS degrees came here, with degrees from Russia,” he said. “What ties me to my patients is trust” Dr Rajshri Memane-Kakade practices along with her homeopath husband in slums in Dhayri and Nare in Pune. She says, “Ayush doctors contributed in a big way while dealing with Covid, H1N1 and Swine Flu.
