Indian plan to combine modern and Ayurvedic medicine condemned as ‘catastrophic’ by doctors; proposal would include surgical operations
- The Indian government is pushing Ayurvedic medicine under a plan which would allow practitioners of the traditional medicine to perform surgery
- Doctors trained in modern medicine are up in arms about this ‘mixopathy’, saying it will endanger patients’ lives, especially with Covid-19 still raging
Doctors and medical students across India are taking a second oath, in addition to their Hippocratic oath. They are formally pledging to oppose what they say is the government’s attempt to “mix” modern medicine with Ayurveda – the 5,000-year-old Indian traditional medicine – which, they predict, will have catastrophic consequences for patients.
“Say No to Mixopathy” is the name of their campaign. Its Facebook page shows doctors and students taking the oath and signing a pledge. It is just one means doctors trained in Western medicine are using to pressure the government to withdraw the plan to allow Ayurveda practitioners to perform operations.
The Central Council of Indian Medicine, which regulates alternative medicine, announced on November 20 that it will allow postgraduates in Ayurveda to receive two years of formal training for more than 40 procedures in general surgery, among them orthopaedic, ophthalmic, ear, nose and throat (ENT), and dental procedures.
“Beyond my comprehension” is how one doctor, paediatrician Arun Shah, described the decision, voicing the modern medical community’s sentiments.
“You cannot mix alternative medicine with modern medicine when their basic principles are in conflict. You cannot unleash these practitioners on the public when they don’t know the basics of modern medicine. We have been trained in scientific, evidence-based methods. The consequences will be serious,” said Shah, the former head of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics.