A 16-year-old girl in the Suryapet district of Telangana passed away following treatment from an unlicensed practitioner, or quack, in a tragic episode that has sparked grave worries about the growing issue of quackery in rural areas. Since the therapy was given in the isolated village of Enakunta Thanda, the incident happened almost a week ago but was only discovered on Saturday.
The Telangana State Medical Council (TGMC) claims that the young girl had been ill with a fever for two days prior to seeing Saraiah, a quack who was impersonating a doctor. According to TGMC registrar Dr. D. Lalaiah Kumar, the girl had two injections and an intravenous saline solution from the quack. She started having terrible stomach pains and vomiting shortly after the therapy, and sadly, she passed away shortly after. According to the TGMC, she died as a direct result of the quack’s therapy.
Saraiah, the quack, deceived the public into thinking he was a licensed physician while lacking any official medical credentials and engaging in illegal modern medicine practice without an MBBS degree. The TGMC has taken suo motu (self-initiated) action in response to the occurrence, instructing its Legal and Anti-Quackery Committee to conduct an inspection of the facility where the treatment was administered and provide a report. An FIR (First Information Report) will be filed against the quack for his involvement in the death in light of the inspection’s conclusions.
According to Dr. Kumar, quacks frequently prey on weaker populations in isolated regions with little access to qualified medical personnel. He continued by saying that quacks frequently use paracetamol or steroid injections to treat basic illnesses like fever, which can have harmful effects. Although the precise injections or chemicals administered to the girl in this instance have not yet been determined, there are worries that common yet powerful pharmaceuticals like steroids or Dexona may have been utilized.
There are other cases like this one. The adolescent girl’s passing is the fourth instance of this kind in recent months. A quack in Mancherial tried an abortion on a seven-month pregnant woman in July 2024, and another quack in Warangal killed a patient by injecting a medication into the muscle rather than the vein. A man in Wardhannapet passed away after a quack gave him seven shots in a single hour. These cases show how dangerous quacks are becoming and how urgently medical regulations need to be enforced more strictly.
By identifying and prosecuting unauthorized medical professionals, the TGMC’s involvement seeks to address this problem and stop other tragedies.
SOURCE :
TIMES OF INDIA
