PUNE: A diploma holder in medical laboratory technology, Kailas Bothe has been arrested for posing as a doctor after Sandip Dhende, the medical officer with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), filed a complaint against him.

Kailas Bothe (40), was found running an independent pathology laboratory and signing on reports of patients as a doctor. He has been charged under the relevant sections Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act, 1961.

Speaking with TOI, Sandip Dhende said, "Bothe was posing as a doctor without holding a medical degree and requisite registration from the medical council. He was signing pathology reports as a doctor and had big board with the prefix doctor before his name. We had warned him not to mislead people by posing as a doctor after we received an anonymous complaint against him. But he did not pay heed. So, we filed complaint against him with Chandannagar police on January 7"

Anil Patrudkar, senior inspector of the Chandannagar police said, "We had arrested Bothe on January 7 soon after we received the complaint. He was later released on bail."

With the said arrest, the city is reported to have registered its 24th case against the fake doctors or fake medical practitioners since the year 2013.

With the rising number of fake doctors in the city, the Pune Municipal Corporation,Health Department conducted a survey and found that the people living in slum areas are the victims of these bogus doctors. The survey carried out to identify the bogus doctors practising in the city covered 850 general practitioners, mainly operating in and around slums adds the daily.


Vaishali Jadhav, the assistant medical officer of health (AMoH), PMC, and in charge of the anti-bogus doctors' cell at PMC said, "Since 2013, we have filed FIRs against 24 bogus doctors, so far. They were from Bopodi, Dhanori, Baner, Hadapsar and Vishrantwadi. Among them, two bogus doctors only had matriculation certificate. Most of the others had degrees in alternative medicines but were practising allopathic medicines. A sizeable number of bogus doctors shut down their clinics on their own and fled from the city after our health officials intensified surveillance", reports TOI



Most quacks identified so far were practising in Hadapsar, Yerawada and Kondhwa areas. The health department has now decided to extend the survey to the other areas.


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