Quacks play with lives in Kanpur

KANPUR: Pseudo doctors popularly known quacks or ‘jhola doctors’ are ruling the roost in the rural areas. With no effort on part of the government to check the practice a large number of unemployed youths and men are taking up the profession irrespective of the fact that they lack even the minimum required qualification.
Unemployment coupled with the glamour and money associated with the profession often acts as an inspiration.
The incident in Sikandra, where a quack prescribed insecticide to four members of the same family who were suffering from itching problem brings to fore that these quacks are continuously playing with the life of patients without any fear of the law of the land. Few of these quacks have procured certificates from private medical institutes while others have got themselves registered under the retired medical practitioner (RMP) category using fake certificates.
In the Sikandra case, one died on way to the hospital while three others are still battling for life at the LLR hospital.
During treatment the doctors at the LLR hospital realised to their horror that the trio had been administered insecticide to treat the ailment.
The case was duly registered with the police which acted swiftly and arrested the quack — Dr Jagdish Katiyar.
However this is not the first case. In May 1998, a man died of septicaemia in the Bhimsen village of Rampur after he was prescribed wrong medicines by the village quack.
Two other members of the family were later saved by timely action of doctors. Alarmed at the havoc being created by quacks the Medico Workers’ Association has decided to take up the cudgels against these ‘jhola chhap doctors.’
It has decided to conduct a survey in various localities of the city and adjacent remote areas so as to identify the quacks.