The Madras High Court has stayed an order passed by the government of Tamil Nadu in June this year (No 248) allowing the practitioners of Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) to practice allopathy based on their training and teaching in the course. Justice K Suguna passed the stay order on a writ- petition filed by the Tamil Nadu branch of the Indian Medical Association.

While welcoming the order, Dr T N Revishankar, secretary of TN-IMA said his association wanted an amendment in the order of the government and later decided to challenge it in the court. The government had issued the order in the wake of widespread crack down by state police on ISM practitioners in the course of their inspection against quacks, in early this year.

Following the unearthing of practices by certain unqualified quacks, who were prescribing both allopathic and ISM medicines in rural areas of Tamil Nadu, the IMA TN branch had in early this year filed a case with the Madras High Court seeking an order to curb the illegal practice. Based on the complaint the Court ordered the state police to conduct an inquiry into the matter and the police started raiding clinics run by various traditional practitioners. Out of this, a large number of institutes were run by qualified and registered practitioners. This has invited the wrath of the qualified Siddha doctors and forced them to approach the government. This has forced the government to issue an order allowing the ISM doctors to practice allopathy based on their training and teaching. But the allopathic doctors have not agreed with this stand of the government.

Responding to the court order the health secretary of the state said the government order 248 does not give a licence to non-allopathic doctors to practice allopathy and the government issued the order based on the provisions of the Central Council of Indian Medicine Act. His office had written to the state police in June last that institutionally qualified and registered practitioners of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani could practice their respective systems with Modern Scientific Medicine including surgery, gynaecology & obstetrics, anaesthesiology, ENT, ophthalmology, etc based on their training and teaching in the course.

But his letter barred them from exclusively doing practice in allopathic medicine.  According to sources, the decision of the health department was in principle allowing the ISM doctors to practice allopathic system on emergency cases. Following it several of the ISM practitioners have started to practice both the systems. Even certain allopathic hospitals were engaging traditional doctors for night duty which was later objected by the IMA.

The ISM practitioners argue that several state governments in India, including those of Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, are allowing the ISM doctors of their states to practice modern systems in cases of emergency.