The Delhi Medical Council has censured a doctor from medical practice for six weeks for practicing in the state without registering with the State Medical Council. The medical practitioner, Dr Yash Nigam, was also found to have failed on his duties as a professional by performing tibial osteoteomy on a patient while better alternatives were available. The DMC order was based on a complaint filed by Pushpa Soin, who was operated for osteoarthrosis knee when left tibial osteoteomy was done with ilizarov fixation.
According to the DMC order issued to Dr Nigam, the option of performing tibial osteotomy with ilizarov fixation in the particular case was not in conformity with the accepted professional practice. "There were better and effective alternative course of treatment available with less complications and better results to cure the ailment with which the complainant was suffering. Dr Nigam failed to exercise reasonable degree of skill in deciding and giving the benefit of the best available course of treatment to the complainant, which is expected of a medical practitioner possessing reasonable skill and experience," it said.
The council also pointed out that in spite of repeated opportunities, Dr Nigam failed to furnish MS (Orthopaedics) degree certificate in support of his post-graduate qualification which he claimed to have obtained from Agra University. "The council takes a serious note of Dr Nigam not being registered with the Delhi Medical Council in violation of the provisions of Section 15 (6) of the Delhi Medical Council Act, 1997. Dr Nigam's name is not borne on a State Medical Register, which is mandatory for practicing medicine," it said.
Interestingly, the decision of DMC to take action against the doctor can be seen as a corrective move to discourage practitioners from getting them registered directly with the Medical Council of India (MCI) without enrolling in any of the state medical councils. Recently, the High Court of Delhi had granted a stay order on one such case, where MCI had initiated disciplinary action against delinquent doctors and thereby attempting to strike off their names from Indian Medical Register.