Re: World Medical Association’s tainted president, Ketan Desai
The overtly generous tributes paid to Dr. Ketan Desai, recently reinstated World Medical Association (WMA) president, by Dr. K.K. Aggarwal, president-elect of Indian Medical Association (IMA), for his “selfless devotion” to improve medical profession are likely to be questioned by most ordinary doctors who are not involved with Indian medical politics. Dr. Desai has had a strong presence in regulation of Indian medicine for decades as evident from the fact that he was Medical Council of India (MCI) and IMA president for many years until he was arrested in 2010 by the CBI, highest law-enforcing agency in India, for alleged bribery and corruption. Dr. Desai is now free on bail but still waiting for criminal trial to begin as the next IMA president-elect staunchly defends Dr. Desai against the editorial in the BMJ.
The IMA president-elect has attempted to build a story that the criminal bribery charge against Dr. Desai involving Gyansagar Medical College (for which Dr. Desai was arrested by the CBI in 2010) is a “false case” as other reports on specific dates from MCI Executive Committee and Board of Governors would demonstrate. It is strange to find that the IMA president-elect has already concluded his own investigation and decided to acquit Dr. Desai from all charges of wrongdoings even as the highest law-enforcing agency in the nation (CBI) has filed charge-sheet in the court of law as Dr. Desai awaits criminal trial to begin.
The IMA president-elect has also made a boisterous claim, without naming anybody in particular, that only some doctors with “vested interests” are playing this dirty game to target this noble and innocent man, Dr. Ketan Desai. Unfortunately, the sordid saga involving Dr. Desai and medical corruption in India is not so simple and has a long history which is known to doctors and ordinary people across India. The relentless attempts by top leaders of IMA/MCI to shield Dr. Desai and to maintain their grip over the medical education and healthcare regulatory system in India send an ominous signal to the ordinary people which is likely to further erode the abysmally low level of public trust on healers in India.
Competing interests:
Author is the founding-president of People for Better Treatment (PBT), a registered charitable organization dedicated to fight medical negligence and eradicate medical corruption in India.
Rapid Response:
Re: World Medical Association’s tainted president, Ketan Desai
The overtly generous tributes paid to Dr. Ketan Desai, recently reinstated World Medical Association (WMA) president, by Dr. K.K. Aggarwal, president-elect of Indian Medical Association (IMA), for his “selfless devotion” to improve medical profession are likely to be questioned by most ordinary doctors who are not involved with Indian medical politics. Dr. Desai has had a strong presence in regulation of Indian medicine for decades as evident from the fact that he was Medical Council of India (MCI) and IMA president for many years until he was arrested in 2010 by the CBI, highest law-enforcing agency in India, for alleged bribery and corruption. Dr. Desai is now free on bail but still waiting for criminal trial to begin as the next IMA president-elect staunchly defends Dr. Desai against the editorial in the BMJ.
The IMA president-elect has attempted to build a story that the criminal bribery charge against Dr. Desai involving Gyansagar Medical College (for which Dr. Desai was arrested by the CBI in 2010) is a “false case” as other reports on specific dates from MCI Executive Committee and Board of Governors would demonstrate. It is strange to find that the IMA president-elect has already concluded his own investigation and decided to acquit Dr. Desai from all charges of wrongdoings even as the highest law-enforcing agency in the nation (CBI) has filed charge-sheet in the court of law as Dr. Desai awaits criminal trial to begin.
The IMA president-elect has also made a boisterous claim, without naming anybody in particular, that only some doctors with “vested interests” are playing this dirty game to target this noble and innocent man, Dr. Ketan Desai. Unfortunately, the sordid saga involving Dr. Desai and medical corruption in India is not so simple and has a long history which is known to doctors and ordinary people across India. The relentless attempts by top leaders of IMA/MCI to shield Dr. Desai and to maintain their grip over the medical education and healthcare regulatory system in India send an ominous signal to the ordinary people which is likely to further erode the abysmally low level of public trust on healers in India.
Competing interests: Author is the founding-president of People for Better Treatment (PBT), a registered charitable organization dedicated to fight medical negligence and eradicate medical corruption in India.