Mumbai: The state-level Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called for a 24-hour strike of doctors on Friday if Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) does not reverse its decision allowing homeopaths with a short-term pharmacology certificate to register as modern medicine practitioners. This would be applicable for all medical services except life-threatening emergencies.There are about 91,000 registered homeopaths in the state, of whom over 9,000 completed a one-year certificate course in modern pharmacology (CCMP). The medical community expressed concerns that this will severely impact people’s health. Dr Jayesh Lele, former general secretary of IMA, said, “Mixing two different fields will only create half-baked medicine prescribers.”In a letter to CM Devendra Fadnavis, the association said MMC’s notification undermines the integrity of modern medical practice. “The short-term course cannot be equated with the rigorous, long-duration MBBS education and clinical training,” it said.Maharashtra State Resident Doctors’ Association also raised concerns, warning that the decision could worsen quackery. “Overdose, drug interactions, wrong prescriptions, even minor errors, can result in irreversible harm or death,” it said in a separate letter to MMC officials.An official said as the move resulted from a 2014 amendment to Maharashtra Homoeopathic Practitioners Act and MMC Act, 1965, it is only govt or courts that can now revoke it. A decision on the amendment is still pending before court, but at a meeting helmed by medical education minister Hasan Mushrif earlier this year, MMC was directed to pass the notification.
