The registrar of Tamil Nadu Medical Council (TNMC) has suspended the licence of a doctor for providing false certificate.
Gobinath, alias Gobi, who was arrested for possessing 1.5 kg of ganja got bail from the Madurai bench of Madras High Court. When he was called for police interrogation on March 28, 2021, he said he had been injured in an accident the previous day and produced a medical certificate for treatment, signed by C. Balaji, an assistant professor of the Government Thanjavur Medical College.
On examination, police found his claim was fake. The Madurai bench then instructed the police to take action against Gobinath for furnishing false documents and marked a copy of the order to TNMC to initiate appropriate action against Dr. Balaji for issuing a certificate on August 19, 2021, stating he had treated the patient from April 1, 2020 till September 26, 2020.
The Council issued a show cause notice to Dr. Balaji for “for issuing a false certificate in violation of regulation 7.7 of Code of Medical Ethics regulations 2003”.
Dr. Balaji explained he had treated Gobi in his private clinic’s outpatient service for left ankle injury. The patient, treated for a tendon injury, did not come for any review till September 20, 2020. He said he had issued a certificate on humanitarian grounds as the patient had complained of pain while standing.
The Council’s disciplinary committee opined that the doctor had issued a fake certificate after seeing the patient just once. Besides, Dr. Balaji had not used the usual format for medical certificates. He had issued the certificate in his official capacity as per the seal on the letter.
K. Senthil, president of TNMC said, “There was no vested interest on the part of the doctor. Hence, we have suspended his licence for just a week,” he explained. The council has ruled that Dr. Balaji’s medical licence would be suspended for a week, beginning March 15. It also instructed him to surrender his registration certificate forthwith.
