DNA Special: Death of Noida woman highlights how 'Munnabhai MBBS' doctors are killing and maiming people in India

A woman died allegedly due to “gross negligence” in treatment at a hospital in Greater Noida run by a “doctor” whose MBBS degree was found to be fake. The fake doctor, Priya Ranjan Thakur, has been arrested and an FIR was lodged against him at the Bisrakh Police Station. 

Lalita, a resident of Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, had visited the IVF Creation World Centre, run by Thakur, in Eco Village 2 in the Bisrakh area on August 19. 

She had been visiting the centre for two months for the In-Vitro Feritilisation (IVF) procedure, a technology-assisted method for pregnancy. The woman fell ill during the procedure and her condition worsened due to lack of emergency support in the centre to such extent that she slipped into a coma and had to be taken to another hospital, where she died on August 26.

It is alleged that during the treatment at the IVF centre, the doctor gave Lalita an overdose of sedative medicine after which she went into coma.

After Lalita's death, the police registered a case and found that the accused who gave anesthesia to Lalita, Doctor Kunal, was absconding. During the investigation, the police sought his degree from the director of the IVF center, Priya Ranjan Thakur. The degree of MBBS shown by the doctor turned out to be fake. After which the police arrested this fake doctors.

During the investigation, the police sought the degree from the director of the IVF center, Priya Ranjan Thakur. The degree of MBBS shown by her turned out to be fake, following which she was arrested.

In 2016, a report by the World Health Organisation on the health workers of India stated that more than half of the doctors practicing allopathic medicine in the country are fake. 

According to the report, 57.3 percent of the people practicing allopathic medicine do not have any medical degree; only 18.8 percent of doctors practicing in rural areas have a medical degree; only 31.4 per cent of those who practice have studied only up to Class 12.

When the WHO released this report, the Indian government termed it baseless. However, later the Union Health Ministry acknowledged the report.

These figures highlight the dilapidated condition of the country’s health infrastructure. Fake doctors are the bitter truth of India’s health system who was termed rural doctors, Bengali doctors and Jholachhaap doctors. In cities, such fake doctors are called Munnabhai MBBS. 

According to a government report in 2018, 19.2 per cent of deaths in India take place because of fake doctors. This figure is 23.1 percent in rural India and 8.7 percent in urban areas. Odisha accounts for 38.6 percent of the deaths due to treatment by fake doctors, while Jharkhand is at number two, where fake doctors are responsible for 34.6 deaths.

The major reason behind this huge number of fake doctors is the scarcity of degree holders. According to the World Health Organisation, there should be one allopathic doctor per 1,000 population. In India, there is one allopathic doctor available for a population of 1,343.

The second reason is lack of primary health facilities. Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey had told the Rajya Sabha that 21,340 specialists are required in the community health centres of the country, out of which only 3,881 are available. 

And the third reason is expensive treatment in private hospitals. The average cost of private hospitalisation in India is Rs 20,000 per person.