Maharashtra Medical Council suspends licence of MD doctor from Pune

The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) has suspended the licence of Dr Sireesha Mohan, MD, from Pune for allegedly letting various pathology labs in Pune district use her electronic signature without she personally seeing the reports, which according to the Council is unethical.

The order issued by the MMC on December 2, says these labs are at different locations and no doctor can visit all these locations in one day. The labs are located at Lohegaon, Chakan, Dighi, Alandi, Kalewadi, Khed, Rajgurnagar and other areas in Pune district.

Moreover, the MMC has found that the scanned signature of the doctor was used for routine as well as insurance claims. HT has seen the copy of the order.

The order issued by the MMC also states that the enquiry in this matter started from April 30, 2019. The online hearing of the matter held on October 23, 2020, in which she was not present. As per the order, she has not responded to the allegations during the proceedings over the last year.

Dr Shivkumar Utture, president, MMC, said that despite many notifications, she did not show up for the proceedings and so we had to take action against the doctor.

“We have time and again taken action against pathologists who are not physically present for signing the reports. As per the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) code of ethics, pathologists cannot sign a report given by a technician. The pathologists’ has to be present to ensure that the reports are correct,” said Utture.

He further added that in such cases, patients can get a false report. “Any qualified doctor views the report first and then decides the treatment modality. If the report is written by a technician and is incorrect then the patient may be given a different treatment which can prove to be harmful. Hence awareness about reports supervised and signed by pathologists is important,” he said.

Dr Prasad Kulkarni of Maharashtra Association of Practicing Pathologists and Microbiologists (MAPPM) said that the local health department should verify credentials of local pathology labs and assure legal practices. Maharashtra Association of Practising Pathologists and Microbiologists has filed the complaint against Dr Mohan with the MMC.

“Some other doctors are doing similar malpractice so people must confirm the availability of pathologists and then submit the sample for tests. Awareness among patients is also important to check illegal practices,” said Dr Kulkarni.

Dr Mohan has refuted all the allegations and said, “I am practising since 1990. This is propaganda against me. The allegations are not true.”

She said that her licence is permanent. “There is no notice updated on the MMC website regarding the case. And my name is still on the MMC website,” she said.