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Quack dispensing medicine for respiratory illnesses busted
New Delhi: A clinic was sealed and an FIR was registered against a quack dispensing medicines for respiratory disease in Central Delhi’s Budh Nagar area on Monday.
New Delhi: A clinic was sealed and an FIR was registered against a quack dispensing medicines for respiratory disease in Central Delhi’s Budh Nagar area on Monday. The person had claimed that the medicines were being dispensed on prescription of a doctor – the “prescriptions” were found to be just blank pieces of paper and the doctor prescribing the allopathic medicines had a Unani degree as per the visiting card given by the person in the clinic.
“The scary thing is that the person was also dispensing the medicine ‘Deriphyllin’ which is given to people with respiratory illnesses like asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Such medicine being dispensed indiscriminately would mean that symptoms such as breathlessness in Covid-19 patients might get suppressed and the authorities might not be able to trace them. Such persons can continue infecting others,” said Dr Girish Tyagi, president, Delhi Medical Association.
A case has been registered under the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Disaster Management Act, both of which have been invoked to manage the spread of Covid-19. This is along with the provision under the Delhi Medical Council Act, which is applicable otherwise.
The maximum punishment under the three laws will be simple imprisonment up to three years and/ or a fine of R 20,000 under the DMC Act or any act that might cause loss or endangerment of a life can be punishable by imprisonment extending up to two years under the Disaster Management Act.
“There are around 30,000 quacks across the city who are playing with the lives of the people, especially during the lockdown when many hospitals and clinics had curtailed their services,” said Dr Tyagi.
The incident came to light three days ago when a team of district officials went to the areas for routine surveillance activities.
“We saw around 25 to 30 people standing close to each other outside a clinic in Budh Nagar area, so we went in to ask the person in-charge to ensure that proper social distancing is followed. However, inside there was a person about 25 years of age who was dispensing the medicines. He did not have any qualification, neither could he present proper prescription from a doctor. The visiting card he provided of the doctor mention that he was a BUMS doctor. This in itself is wrong because allopathic medicines were being dispensed. However, there was no registration number of the doctor with respective council provided to us either,” said Dr Nitin Shakya, nodal officer of surveillance in the area.
The sub-divisional magistrate of Delhi Cantt area Piyush Rohankar has decided to search the area for other such clinics.
