Hospitals close OPD to protest Centre's nod to Ayurvedic doctors to do surgeries

Bengaluru: Many hospitals closed OPD on Friday in response to a call given by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to protest the Centre's nod to legitimise 'mixopathy' and allow Ayurvedic doctors to perform surgeries. Some hospitals attended to emergency cases.

Dr Suri Raju, General Secretary, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Yelahankha and founder of Regal Hospital, said that over 50-55 hospitals shut OPD but semi emergency and emergency wards were open to ensure that no patient was inconvenienced.

"Regal Multi-Speciality Hospital's Semi Emergency and Emergency ward was open in order to ensure that no patient was inconvenienced . The patients are at the core of the work we do and we have put all the structure in place to ensure that they don't face any difficulty," he added. The members of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) also closed OPDs to protest against the Union government's decision.

PHANA president Dr Prasanna H M said, "The move of the government is ill conceived and is against the spirit of the Ayurvedic sciences. This may lead to dilution of training of medical graduates. This will also dent the image of the healthcare industry and may deepen the trust deficit."