Raigad doctor pens against 'cut practice' in global journal

The moral uprightness of a doctor from Mahad town in Raigad district has earned him a mention in Lancet, a UK-based global medical journal. Dr HS Bawaskar has penned an article about corruption practices in the Indian medical sector in the latest edition of the monthly journal.

On July 12, dna was the first to report about Dr Bawaskar’s refusal to be part of an alleged corruption practice in the medical fraternity and had returned the cheque to the laboratory.

In the article, Dr Bawaskar exposes how doctors go on foreign junkets which are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies as an incentive for the doctor to promote their products. All this “hand-in-glove” practice makes the patient suffer, the article says.

Dr Bawaskar said that there is a need for a watchdog to be appointed to curb such practices.

“This is literally bribe for referring a patient to the lab and so I filed a complaint with the Medical Council of India, which has been directed to Maharashtra Medical Council for inquiry,” said Dr Bawaskar, adding that the hearing of the matter is on.

“But after this case I decided to expose this racket and so I wrote in Lancet,” said Dr Bawaskar. “If this helps bring about some change, it will provide great relief to patients.”

Medical evil needs cure
Dr HS Bawaskar had, in May this year, referred a patient to a diagnostic laboratory in Pune for a CT scan. He received a cheque of Rs1,200 from the laboratory for the referral

Referred to as ‘cut practice’, this is allegedly a common trend among doctors. Dr Bawaskar had, however, refused to be part of this and had returned the cheque to the laboratory.