Second quack caught in a week, collector warns of strict action

Trichy: After a quack and two of his accomplices were detained in Trichy, the district collector warned to take action under Goondas Act against the quacks, here on Tuesday.
A team of officials led by Joint Director of Health Services (JDHS) Dr S Samsath Begum caught a quack G Sankar red-handed at his clinic situated opposite Mannachanallur police station on Tuesday.The inspection was necessitated following a direction from the chief minister’ special cell which received a complaint about treatment provided for dengue and other fever at the SMP foot reflexology centre run by the unqualified Sankar.
JDHS Dr Samsath Begum visited Sankar on the pretext of seeking treatment for fever. Unaware of the fact that it was an operation to catch him, he asked for a blood test report from her. Since she had no test report, he told the JDHS to undergo a blood test at a lab near his clinic.
The JDHS then revealed her identity to his shock. Sankar’s wife Malarkodi was found assisting him in the treatment while a lady, Dhanaseeli, was working as a staff to deliver the medicines to the patients. Interrogations revealed that Sankar was treating patients for dengue without any medical degree. The two others also had no qualification.
The team also found a 12-year-old girl and her parents who had come all the way from Theni to get treatment from him for dengue. District collector K Rajamani ordered the arrest of all three persons. The Mannachanallur police brought them for interrogation.
As this was the second incident of a quack treating patients in the district in a week’s time, collector Rajamani warned severe action under Goondas Act against the unqualified persons who were treating patients in any mode – either Indian medicine or allopathic medicine.