Row Around Who Gets To Prescribe Modern Drugs, Pg11

Key Highlights:

• Doctors in Maharashtra protested against homeopathic practitioners being allowed to prescribe modern medicines after completing a bridge course.
• The controversy arose after Dr. Neha Siddharth Pawar became the first homeopath registered with the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) to prescribe allopathic drugs.
• This registration was based on a 2014 amendment to the Maharashtra Medical Commission Act and completion of the Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP).
• Both modern medicine practitioners and the National Commission for Homeopathy (NCH) oppose this move, citing concerns about "mixopathy."

Detailed Insights:

• The doctors' strike was called off after the Bombay High Court intervened, but the issue remains unresolved.
• The 2014 amendment allows homeopaths with the CCMP to be registered in a separate register with the MMC, granting them near equivalence to MBBS doctors.
• The matter is currently sub-judice, meaning it is under judicial consideration, with no interim stay granted by the court.
• The Maharashtra government cited a shortage of doctors and the goal of "Health for All" as reasons for the 2014 amendment.
• Behind the amendment was also a push from homeopathy colleges, inspired by Ayurveda colleges being allowed to prescribe some allopathic medicines.
• Nationally, medical practitioners are generally restricted to their respective systems of medicine, though some states allow Ayurveda doctors to prescribe limited allopathic drugs.
• The Supreme Court has previously ruled against "mixopathy" in cases like Poonam Verma vs Ashwin Patel and Dr Mukhtiar Chand vs State Of Punjab.
• Admission to all medical courses, including modern medicine, Ayurveda, and homeopathy, is through the national selection test, NEET-UG.
• While initial subjects like anatomy and physiology are common, the courses diverge significantly in treatment methodologies, with modern medicine focusing on evidence-based pharmacology.
• Central regulations allow states to permit homeopaths to practice allopathy only for narrow requirements or specific durations, not as an open-ended allowance.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Allopathy: A system of medical practice that treats disease by using remedies that produce effects different from those caused by the disease itself.
• Homeopathy: A system of medicine based on the principle of "like cures like," using highly diluted substances to stimulate the body's healing response.
• Mixopathy: The practice of combining different systems of medicine, often referring to practitioners of one system prescribing medicines from another.
• Sub-judice: A legal term meaning that a case or matter is currently under judicial consideration and therefore prohibited from public discussion.