Maharashtra government’s decision to mix homoeopathy and allopathy could jeopardise lives of patients

This is certainly not the first time a state government has attempted to blur the boundary of fundamentally different systems of medicine. In the 1980s, the Kerala government attempted to impart surgical training to Ayurveda undergraduate students which met stiff resistance from people of the state and the government backed off. The state government made another attempt in 2015 – the Kerala High Court quashed the government order.

Modern medicine is governed by the NMC Act of 2019 which lays down clear standards for training and practice of allopathy. Each system of medicine – Modern, Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani – has its distinct formulary (list of medicines) regulated by the government through the Drug Controller of India. Diverse, often conflicting scientific principles underpin these different systems. Mixing and matching these dissimilar systems is fraught with danger due to unpredictable effects that can often be fatal.

A new drug in modern medicine undergoes extensive scientific evaluation including safety trials in humans after completing animal and cell culture studies. Once deemed safe, the next step is to study the desired effect and side effects. This is followed by large, randomised controlled trials involving a large number of participants to see if the drug is beneficial and if the risks do not outweigh the benefits. All this is published in scientific journals allowing scientists and specialist doctors around the world to scrutinise independently and only then the drug enters the formulary in India.

The undergraduate training in modern medicine regulated by NMC includes basic science and research methodology. The student is also given skills to interpret the results of research in addition to studying pharmacology over the four-and-a-half-year course. Basic pharmacology theory itself is taught over a year and applied pharmacology is taught over three years as well as during the year of compulsory internship. Believing a six-month certificate course for homeopathy doctors will equip them to prescribe medicines from modern medicine formulary is like living in a fantasy world.

To ensure minimum standards, quality and safe clinical practice, the Government of India has introduced the National Exit Exam, starting this year for all medical graduates after completing undergraduate training in their respective system. This applies to all medical graduates from India and abroad to get mandatory registration to practice in their chosen field, speciality and sub-speciality. On the one hand, the Centre is trying to drive up the standards and on the other hand, the Maharashtra government is working against those core values.

Lives should not be jeopardised

Citizens of Maharashtra should use the fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution and get this legally and medically unsound proposal quashed because human lives could be jeopardised by untrained homoeopathic practitioners practising outside their field of training. Homeopathy doctors should confine clinical practice to their system based on their undergraduate training. Patients do have a right to make informed choices regarding which system of medicine they would like treatment and for this reason, different systems should maintain their purity. Modern medicine doctors also have a duty to educate the unsuspecting people on the dangers of the Maharashtra government’s new decree.

The modern medical community and pharmacists should mount a legal challenge through their professional organisations if all else fails – we are duty bound to protect our patients.

The writer is a retired consultant gastroenterologist