MORE THAN 100 QUACKS HELD IN HYDERABAD POLICE RAIDS

In the wake of a recent incident in which a quack burnt the body of a patient who died because of an injection, police in Hyderabad launched a massive drive detaining 111 medical practitioners.

In the cordon and search raids conducted on clinics being run illegally at several places in the old city, police picked up doctors suspected to be holding fake degrees.

Those taken into custody include registered medical practitioners (RMPs) and Ayurvedic and Sadhak physicians who were prescribing allopathic medicine.

The raids were conducted under the limits of 17 police stations of south zone which covers the old city where practice by quacks is rampant. In one case, police found that a quack, who is not even a matriculate, was running a clinic.

DCP V Satyanarayana said help was sought from the Telangana Medical Council to examine the degrees held by some of the practitioners. “If they are found to be holding fake certificates, cases will be booked against them,” he said.

Police found that RMPs were not only prescribing allopathic medicines but also administering injections to patients.

The police officer said due to the increase of health care expenditure and other socioeconomic factors, the poor approach RMPs/quacks.

The police swung into action after at least three people died after they were treated by quacks in the past few months.

On November 21, Ismail Hussain, an X-ray technician who was running a clinic with a forged Unani degree certificate, was arrested when he burnt the body of a 45-year-old patient near Shamshabad on the city outskirts.