SMOKING OUT QUACKS ON WORLD HEALTH DAY

On the quack who performed cardiac surgeries in M.P. resulting in seven deaths; recommendations for policies on World Health Day; Trump's cuts, layoffs and tariffs, and more

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Updated - April 09, 2025 07:49 AM IST

Ironically, in a week that opened with World Health Day, we reported on a quack who did cardiac surgeries at a missionary hospital in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, leaving seven patients dead. According to reports, the matter came to light on April 5, after Damoh Child Welfare Committee president Deepak Tiwari told reporters about an ongoing probe by a district-level committee against a man who, he alleged, impersonated a doctor using forged documents and performed surgeries on heart patients at Mission hospital. Mr, Tiwari, whose complaint prompted the probe in February, alleged that the man's act had caused at least seven deaths.

Based on a complaint from Mr. Tiwari, a probe committee was formed by District Collector Sudhir Kochhar in February and headed by Chief Medical and Health Officer M.K. Jain. The FIR was filed based on a report from the probe committee and includes charges of cheating, forgery of documents, and use of forged documents, apart from provisions of The Madhya Pradesh Ayurvigyan Parishad Act, 1987. Mehul Malpani has an elaborate report. While we await the details in the case, we learn that the probe found that the doctor Narendra Yadav had been posing as a cardiologist at Mission Hospital in Damoh, usurping the identity of N John Camn, a genuine doctor in Britain. We are staying on this case, and further details will be shared as and when they come to light.

The Editorial and OpEd section of The Hindu profiled key issues in health care in India on the occasion of World Health Day on April 7.

Do stop by to read recommendations for policy and implementation in the health sectors in India: