A 42-year-old quack was arrested for running an illegal Primary Health Care unit for two decades in Thamelerimuthur village, near Jolarpet, in Tirupattur on Saturday by a team of district health officials and the police.
Health officials said M. Sampath was running an illegal health centre at two places, including in his house in the village, for many years, treating people for various ailments. The team seized medical equipment, including blood pressure apparatus, stethoscope, syringes and intravenous drips.
“Based on a petition given to Collector Amar Kushwaha during the weekly grievance redress meeting, we did a surprise check and found the illegal health centre,” K. Marimuthu, Joint Director of Health Services (Tirupattur), said.
Based on the petition, along with the Jolarpet police, a team of senior health officials caught Sampath and his wife while treating patients in his health centre in the village around 10.30 a.m. on Saturday. More than a dozen patients, mostly residents of the village, were waiting at the health centre.
Initial investigations revealed that his father, Murugan, worked at a government hospital in Vaniyambadi as a staff member many years ago. Health officials suspect that Sampath could have learned medical procedures from there without any formal education or registration. The team found that he had the proper set up for a health centre with the nameboard saying he was a MBBS doctor.
Based on a complaint from A.L. Velmurugan, Chief Civil Surgeon, Government District Headquarters Hospital (Tirupattur), a case was registered by the Jolarpet police.
