Kozhikode Doctors practising modern medicine are stepping up their opposition to the Central Council of Indian Medicine Regulations amendment allowing Ayurveda postgraduates to perform surgeries. Anaesthesiologists, who have a major role to play in surgical procedures, have endorsed the ongoing protests by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against what they called ‘mixopathy’ or blending of different branches of medicine.
E.K. Mohamed Abdul Nazar, Kerala chapter president of the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists (ISA), told The Hindu on Saturday that any doctor applying anaesthetic drugs before surgery needs to have a clear understanding of the existing medical conditions of the patient and the treatment being given. “It is dangerous for any anaesthesiologist, who may not know anything about Ayurveda medicines or their side effects, to apply the drugs,” he pointed out.
Dr. Nazar claimed that no scientific studies had yet been done on the counteraction between Ayurveda and anaesthetic drugs. There was no doubt that this mixopathy would do only harm, he said. “After the surgery, patients are under the scrutiny of a team of physicians, intensive care surgeons, and anaesthesiologists who are trained in modern medicine. An Ayurvedic doctor working with this team will not help in any way,” Dr. Nazar said.
On training
He came down on the proposal to train Ayurvedic doctors in anaesthesia. “Most of the anaesthetic drugs, which are prepared only according to the pharmacopoeia of modern medicine, do have serious side effects and are not fully safe. The Ayurveda system of medicine does not have any such medicines. It will be practically impossible to train their doctors who will not have any knowledge of anaesthesia,” Dr. Nazar said.
He said the Central move to encourage mixing of different branches of medicines would only lead to each of them losing their identity. This would deprive people of their right to choose a particular branch of medicine that would be beneficial to them, Dr. Nazar added.
In a communication to its members, the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists claimed that MD (Ayurveda) Anaesthesia and Diploma (Ayurveda) Anaesthesia were against the “basic human right of safe anaesthesia”.
