People for Better Treatment

Rampant corruption within the Indian medical system became glaringly exposed when undisputed mafia-king of Indian medicine and president of the Medical Council of India (MCI), Dr. Ketan Desai, was arrested on April 23, 2010 by the CBI while taking a bribe of Rs. 2 crore (approx. US $ 435,000) allegedly for granting recognition to a private medical college in Punjab. This unprecedented medical scandal forced the health ministry to disband the MCI. PBT played a key role in the unraveling of the pervasive corruption within the medical fraternity in India. Our president, Dr. Kunal Saha, has repeatedly warned the health department about the ongoing corruption within the medical council.

Although Dr. Desai is still in CBI custody, he has remained largely unscathed in the medical world. He is still the "president-elect" for the World Medical Association (WMA) and he has kept his medical license/degrees intact. PBT has been fighting for cancellation of Dr. Desai's medical recognition and to bring justice for all of his doctor cronies at the MCI

PBT is the only NGO that also filed an application in the CBI court for intervention in the corruption case against Dr. Ketan Desai. The top international medical journal, The Lancet, has carried a full story on this historic medical calamity in India in their May 15, 2010 issue in which PBT's view for solving medical corruption in India has been explained.

People for Better Treatment (PBT) has been fighting numerous legal and public battles including the recent battle against corruption in the Medical Council of India (MCI) to stop "medical negligence" and to improve the standard of medical education in India.

PBT is planning for a major change in its website to bring more comprehensive information and useful tools for the victims of "medical negligence" to help them fight for their rights.

We urge all conscientious citizens to join us as volunteers and to generously donate to the PBT to help our endeavor in this enormous battle for humanity and to bring an end to the pervasive "medical negligence" and rampant corruption in Indian healthcare.

You can also use the "Donate" button to pay for PBT membership. Simply mention your "Reference" number (given during "Donation") in the application form (click at "Membership" which also shows application fee for different type of membership). Then email the filled application form to PBT Secretary Mr. Malay Ganguly (Email: malay.ganguly@rediffmail.com OR mkganguly.25@gmail.com)

MCI Dissolved, Desai Resigns, PBT in Leading Medical Journal: Complete Transparency is Mandatory for the New Health Committee

After Dr. Ketan Desai, president of the Medical Council of India (MCI) (Dr. Desai resigned from the MCI on May 12, 2010), was arrested by the CBI last month for taking bribes of Rs. 2 crores allegedly for providing MCI recognition for a private medical college in Patiala, PBT demanded that the MCI must be dissolved and every MCI member who helped Dr. Desai all these years to run a despicable racquet of corruption must be brought to justice (click here to see PBT’s memorandum to the Prime Minister).

PBT’s relentless fight over the past few weeks has eventually yielded some result as the Indian government finally declared today (May 14, 2010) that the MCI has been dissolved and that a new 7-member Committee will take over the role of the MCI. PBT will keep a close eye on how government against the other devious MCI members. PBT will also watch closely the formation of the new “Committee”. As the leading international medical journal, The Lancet, analyzed the recent MCI fiasco in India in their latest issue (May 15, 2010), the new “Committee” must include at least some “non-doctor” members from the society and it must not include anyone who had a prior connection with the MCI. The Lancet report also interviewed PBT’s president, Dr. Kunal Saha (click here to read The Lancet article). We sincerely hope that the Indian government is listening to the advice put forward by the leading scientific medical journal of the world.

The CBI laid a trap after receiving a complaint and caught Singh red-handed with Rs 2 crore, to be delivered to Desai. It also conducted raids in Punjab, Delhi and Gujarat to trace Desai’s other associates and the assets he has acquired. Desai is accused of granting recognition to several colleges that didn’t meet required criteria. In 2001, he had stepped down as MCI president after the Delhi High Court indicted him on corruption charges

"Contempt" Filed against AMRI Hospital for Refusal to Pay Penalty Imposed by the Supreme Court

A "contempt of court" petition has been filed today (March 11, 2010) in the Supreme Court against Dr. Mani K. Chettri, an eminent physician and managing director of the AMRI Hospital in Kolkata (click here to see the "contempt" petition).

In a historic judgment on August 7, 2009, the Apex Court overturned the decision by the National Consumer Forum (NCDRC) and held 4 top Kolkata doctors (Sukumar Mukherjee, Abani Roychowdhury, Baidyanath Halder and Balaram Prasad) and AMRI Hospital solely responsible for causing worngful death of Anuradha Saha. The SC has remitted the case back to the NCDRC only for determination of the final quantum of compensation (Rs. 78 crore plus interests from 1998). Hearing for determination of final compensation is still continuing at the NCDRC despite Apex Court's direction to dispose of the matter "as expeditiously as possible and preferably within six months". In addition, the SC also imposed separate penalty of Rs. 5 lakh against the AMRI Hospital and Rs. 1 lakh against Dr. Mukherjee, the principal culprit doctor.

While Dr. Mukherjee has recently paid the penalty, the AMRI Hospial has refused to pay the extra cost imposed by the Apex Court even after more than 7 months. Hence this "contempt" petition was filed against the AMRI Hospital for their deliberate violation of the Supreme Court order.