Can a MBBS doctor treat cancer? State doesn't know

MUMBAI, 27 DEC: In reply to an RTI query on whether an MBBS doctor is qualified to treat cancer, information commissioner D B Deshpande has summoned senior health officials . Besides, a comprehensive note has been sent to the additional chief secretary to alert him to their indifferent attitude, a senior official told TOI on Monday. Avinash submitted his RTI application on November 4, 2009, to the information officer (IO), Government Medical College, Aurangabad. In it, apart from asking whether an MBBS degree-holder could treat a cancer patient, he also sought specific rules and regulations on what kind of eligibility was required under government rules to do this. On November 11, 2009, the IO submitted a brief reply, saying an MBBS doctor was not eligible but was silent on the rules and regulations pertaining to the treatment of such patients. Avinash then filed an appeal before the competent authority on November 23, 2009. As there was no response, he filed the second appeal before the Aurangabad information commission on February 26, 2010. Deshpande heard the second appeal on March 21, 2011, and again on October 11, 2011. However, on both occasions, while Avinash was present, the IO and first appellate authority did not attend the proceedings. "I have raised a basic question. I am an MBBS doctor who operates a helpline for cancer patients. I was told an MBBS doctor is not qualified to treat cancer patients, so I am keen on knowing the eligibility norms. The administration is not responding to my query," Avinash said. Avinash pointed out that under the rules prescribed by the FDA, a registered medical practitioner is eligible to prescribe all scheduled drugs, which include drugs for the treatment of cancer, and therefore, it would be wrong to ban a general practitioner from either prescribing drugs for a cancer patient or treating such patients. "If I am barred from prescribing drugs for cancer patients, it's my right to know why I am being restrained," he said. A former member of the Maharashtra Medical Council said there was no bar on an MBBS doctor practising any branch of medicine or administering treatment for any disease under the MMC or MCI rules. "However, in the event of his treatment pattern being challenged, he will have to establish that he has adequate knowledge of that branch," he said.

Times of India