The Madras High Court in a judgement has restrained the Unani practitioners from practising allopathic system and administering the modern medicines to their patients.

The Court found that the brief modern medical training given to the integrated medicine graduates (Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani) during their internship was not for the purpose of practice or administer allopathy or modern medicine. The training would not qualify them to practice allopathy. It was only as part of their curriculum to get their degree in BUMS (Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery ), they had undergone such training.

Two Unani doctors, D Abdul Muneer and Jalees Ahmed Siddiqi have filed two writ petitions in the court seeking the court's intervention to restrain the police officials from preventing them from practising in allopathic system. Justice K K Sasidharan has dismissed both the petitions.

The petitioners argued that they were qualified Unani parishioners and said when they served as house-surgeons they had undergone training in seven departments of allopathy which include obstetrics, gynaecology, surgery, paediatrics, general medicine, ENT and ophthalmology. So they should be permitted to do PG course in allopathy and practice that system. But the Directorate of Medical Services submitted an affidavit in the court that said Unani practitioners were not entitled to practice the system of allopathy

When contacted Dr Amir Jahan, a senior Unani doctor in the city and a member of the Association of Integrated Systems of Medicine, said every branch of treatment has its own council and the practitioners of each system should confine to their branches only.

"We have been demanding only one thing and the legal battle is going on for years. Why do the allopathy graduates practice Ayurveda or Unani or homoeopathy methods after doing their PG in ISM? They are (MBBS Graduates) getting lateral entry for PG courses of Ayurveda or Unani. But the BUMS are not allowed to get admission to MD or MS allopathy. So we don't like others to enter into our field," he told Pharmabiz.

While dismissing the petitions, the judge observed that the petitioners were taking advantage of the brief training they received during their internship for six months. The training during the course of house surgeon ship was only for the purpose of completing the course as per the regulations.

Recently, in some parts of the state the police have raided some of the clinics of Unani doctors on account of their practice in allopathic medicine along with Unani medicine.