Homeopath told to compensate for prescribing allopathic drug

AHMEDABAD,  FEB 2017: A homeopath has been asked to pay Rs 2 lakh to his patient for prescribing him allopathic medicine. A consumer court considered the practice of prescribing allopathic medicines by the homeopath as medical negligence.

In this case, Dr Gunwant Bawalia who practices at Bedla village near Rajkot has been asked to compensate Bhupat Makwana, a resident of the village.

This is for prescribing paracetamol to Makwana's son in April 2013, and for putting him on saline drip the next day when the child's health did not improve.

After Dr Bawalia treated him, the child's health deteriorated and he had blisters all over his body. He was shifted to various hospitals following the reaction to the medicine prescribed by the homeopath. The doctors who treated the child later came to conclusion that his condition was aggravated by improper treatment.

Makwana spent more than Rs 95,000 on his son's treatment. He later issued a legal notice to Dr Bawalia and filed a complaint before the Rajkot District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum and demanded compensation of Rs 3 lakh for the trouble he was put through. The doctor first refused to identify the complainant, but later conceded that he had treated the child. He still maintained that he had not charged them anything.

Documents placed by Makwana established that Dr Bawalia had treated the child. Once this was accepted by the consumer court, the doctor argued that he had not invited them to his clinic. This argument did not go well with the court, which reprimanded the doctor the statement.

The consumer court said section 17(3) of the Homeopathic Act, 1963 allows a homeopath to practice only homeopathic system of medicine. The court quoted the Supreme Court's definition that a quack that it is a "person who does not have knowledge of a particular system and a mere pretender to medical knowledge or skill, or to put it differently a charlatan".

Looking at the expenditure on the child's treatment and Makwana's mental agony, the court asked the homeopath to pay Rs 2 lakh to him along with Rs 5,000 towards litigation expenditure.