Time line Indian Medical council IMA Dr. KV BABU saga

Dr.K.V.Babu 

A doctor with Ethics, Guts and courage

. Dr. K.V. Babu Nandanam, S.S. Temple Road Payyanur, Kannur (DT) Kerala.

r.Babu's Eye Clinic

PAYYANUR(PO), KANUUR(DT), KERALA-670307 INDIA
Kannur
Kerala
Tel : 91-0498-505015

Working Hours

Every Day:09:00 AM - 01:00 PM

Who is Dr.K.V.Babu and why we need to know about him?

After hearing  the  news of the demise  of  Medical council of India i was trying  to read about the  timeline  of  MCI from it's inception  it's abolition  and  came  across this  curious  saga of  Dr.KVBabu  the  IMA  The  Medical council of  India  and  the  Hunted  harrased  ethical doctor.

I  want  to  commend  his  courage.

I wish every physician  in india was  like  Dr.K.V.Babu

Whistleblower doctor wins battle against MCI

(After suffering and fighting for 8 years)

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:,  MARCH 09, 2016 00:00 IST

UPDATED: MARCH 09, 2016 05:46 IST

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health’s intervention has finally brought to close an eight-year-long campaign waged by K.V. Babu, a physician from Kannur, whose relentless fight against the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) product endorsements and the legal hassles that followed had eventually led him on a collision course with the Medical Council of India (MCI).

In 2008, Dr. Babu had complained to the MCI against IMA, which had signed a Rs.2.25-crore deal with Pepsico for endorsing its products and which Dr. Babu pointed out was in violation of the MCI’s Code of Ethics Regulations, 2002.

The whistleblower doctor had all the while been fighting expulsion by the IMA Kerala branch and harassment by the MCI, which, instead of upholding the code of ethics had exempted the IMA from within the ambit of the ethics regulation and had turned against Dr. Babu and his wife Bindu for going to the press.

The MCI, following the intervention of the PSC, has finally given up and has agreed to unconditionally drop the complaint against Dr. Babu and close the case. The PSC’s report was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The MCI has also been forced to retract its earlier statement that professional association of doctors such as the IMA did not fall within its jurisdiction.

Talking to The Hindu , Dr. Babu said that he had relentlessly pursued the case because morally, ethically and legally, he was right on every count and hence, none had the right to harass him.

“According to the Code of Ethics, every medical practitioner should be a member of a professional association, which gives me the right to be a member of the IMA. But the IMA’s unethical endorsement of a product does not suit my ethics. The Code of Ethics also says that it is the responsibility of a medical professional to oppose any unethical practice,” he said.

Doctor fights battle against MCI and IMA on paid endorsements for Pepsico

Activists Brinda Karat and Prashanth Bhushan have written to the Health Minister taking up the cause of a whistle blower from Kerala, Dr. VK Babu.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - 05:30

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The News Minute | July 2, 2014 | 6:57 PM IST 

Even as Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has emphasised that the Medical Council of India (MCI) needs to be restructured, allegations against MCI continues unabated. 

Activists Brinda Karat and Prashanth Bhushan have written to the Health Minister taking up the cause of a whistle blower from Kerala, Dr. VK Babu.

The letter discusses how Babu is being mistreated and even harassed for exposing paid endorsements issue. Back in 2010, Dr. Babu had brought to light that certain Pepsico products including Tropicana and Quaker Oats were endorsed by the IMA after they received a payment of Rs. 1.56 crore.

The case against the four doctors, who were also the office bearers of IMA for endorsing the products after receiving money, was filed back in 2010. The endorsement as per Dr. Babu was illegal & unethical under - Violation of PFA Act 1956 Section 39 & MCI regulations 2002.

In 2010 November, the MCI declared that, the endorsements were illegal and the doctors licenses were suspended for a period of time.

Babu’s contention was proved right when the Medical Council of India declared that the IMA’s endorsement was indeed illegal and unethical. But soon Babu was under fire, show-cause notices were issued against Babu by the four doctors asking why he should not be removed from the IMA as he approached the Health Ministry and MCI for an issue.

Dr Babu told The News Minute that soon after his complaint the IMA lead by the very doctors who he complained against, decided to expel him. In June 2013. the MCI Ethics committee that heard his complaint found that four doctors were guilty of misconduct and recommended removal of their names from the IMA register for a year.

Following the show cause notice he approached the MCI yet again, the MCI’s Ethics Committee heard the case and in June 2013 concluded that the four doctors were guilty of professional misconduct and even recommended the removal of their names from the Indian Medical Register for a year.

Brinda Karat has complained to the Health Minister that, "the new board of the MCI overturned this decision of the Ethics Committee.

In a surprising move the MCI Deputy Secretary, Ashok Kumar Harit, wrote to the Secretary, Ministry of Health on 03/06/2014, since “ Indian Medical Association does not come under the purview of MCI, it is neither open nor permissible for the MCI to make any comment as to why show cause was made against Dr KV Babu by IMA”. 

Babu says the complaint was never against the IMA, it was against the four doctors who had indulged in something illegal.

The latest statement by the MCI undermines the authority of none other than the MCI itself. While the IMA is an association of doctors, MCI is a statutory body with the responsibility of establishing and maintaining high standards of medical education and recognition of medical qualifications in India. Babu is of the opinion that right now the MCI is misleading the entire country with its statement, “They must resign first”, he says.

Lone crusader for ethics

Fighting for ethics is never simple, as a doctor from Kerala realised during his long crusade. In 2008, Dr KV Babu, an ophthalmologist practising in Payyanur, was offended by the numerous endorsements of commercial products in the media by none other than the Indian Medical Association (IMA). His plea was that an endorsement by the IMA of a particular brand of oats or fruit juice was equivalent to an endorsement made by him, as a member of the organisation. He felt that when such an action was a direct violation of the Code of Medical Ethics Regulations 2002, laid down by the Medical Council of India (MCI), it was his duty to complain to that body. However, five years down the line, the matter is still pending before the council’s ethics committee.

The MCI has delayed its decision on the issue that questions its own jurisdiction over the IMA, which has, in turn, tried unsuccessfully to expel the feisty doctor. Dr Babu has fought this battle at his own cost, spending over Rs 50,000 on trips to Delhi. He has had to file RTI applications, and write letters to the health ministry, the chief information commissioner and even the National Human Rights Commission to get the MCI to heed his arguments. Responding to the council’s view that it cannot take action against associations, Dr Babu filed complaints against all 187 doctor members of the association’s central working committee. Eventually, the MCI ruled against the endorsements and penalised two leading office-bearers.

Dr Babu, meanwhile, stands firm in his fight against his expulsion, saying: “It is law-breakers who ought to be expelled, not those who uphold the law.”

Rema Nagarajan, Cover story, The Times of India Crest edition, July 6, 2013, Available from: http://www.timescrest.com/coverstory/the-patient-doctor-10659

The issues that Jerry Kassirer takes up in his memoir are far from being alien to us in India. Concerns about commercial COI and the long drawn out battle between the Indian Medical Association (and the Medical Council of India) and Dr KV Babu about medical societies endorsing commercial products (2) is only too fresh in our minds. (For the benefit of readers outside India - in that case, the Indian Medical Association had endorsed products of Pepsico, which Dr Babu saw as an infringement of the duties of a medical association and complained to the Medical Council of India. For pointing this out, he was harassed and practically considered persona non grata by both groups. In 2016, however, after a torrid eight years, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health absolved him of any possible wrongdoing. (2

Central Information Commission

Dr. K. V. Babu vs Medical Council Of India on 10 November, 2009

           Central Information Commission
                                                        CIC/AD/A/2009/001403
                                                      Dated 10th November, 2009

Name of the Applicant                   : DR. K. V. BABU


Name of the Public Authority            : MEDICAL COUNCIL OF INDIA

Background

1. The Applicant filed his RTI request on 13.06.09 with the PIO, MCI seeking information against 5 points regarding endorsement of commercial products by Indian Medical Association. The PIO, MCI replied on 01.07.09 informing the Applicant that with regard to points i) & iv) the second reminder vide letter dated 18.06.09 was sent to Dr. Dharam Prakash, Hon. General Secretary, Indian Medical Association. He enclosed a copy of the letter. With regard point ii) he stated that no reply has been received from Indian Medical Association, New Delhi till date. With regard to points iii) to v) he assured the Applicant that the matter would again be placed before the Ethics Committee in its next meeting anfd that IMA does not fall under the jurisdiction of MCI.. Being aggrieved with the reply, the Applicant filed a First Appeal on 03.08.09 requesting for further clarification with regard to the Medical Ethics in respect of endorsement by IMA. The CPIO, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, also informed the Applicant on 06.08.09 that the Ministry has sought the comments of Medical Council of India vide letter dated 29.07.09. He requested the Applicant to approach MCI for the same. However, not satisfied with the reply from the Appellate Authority, the Applicant filed a Second Appeal before the CIC on 21.09.09 stating that IMA is endorsing food products of Pepsi and that such endorsement is unethical. He requested for clarification since he is an IMA member. He wanted to know whether endorsement of a commercial product by a medical organisation is unethical or not.

2. The Bench of Mrs. Annapurna Dixit, Information Commissioner scheduled the hearing for 10th November, 2009.

3. Mr. J.S. Bhasin, Advocate represented the Public Authority.

4. The Applicant was heard through audio conferencing during the hearing.

Decision

5. After reviewing the information provided, the Commission holds that available information has been furnished to the Appellant by PIO MCI and CPIO, Ministry. However, the Commission directs the MCI to place the issue before the Ethics Committee at its next meeting and to inform the Appellant the decision taken by the Committee. This exercise to be completed by December end 2009. In addition, the CPIO, IMA is directed to furnish the information to the Appellant by 15 December, 2009 and also to showcause why a penalty should not be imposed on him for not furnishing the reply. The response to the notice to be sent to the Commission by 20 December, 2009.

(Annapurna Dixit) Information Commissioner Authenticated true copy:

(G. Subramanian) Assistant Registrar Cc:

1. Dr. K.V. Babu Nandanam, S.S. Temple Road Payyanur, Kannur (DT) Kerala.

2. The PIO Medical Council of India Pocket - 14, Sector -8 Dwarka Phase-1 New Delhi.

3. The Appellate Authority Medical Council of India Pocket - 14, Sector -8 Dwarka Phase-1 New Delhi.

4.   Officer in charge, NIC

5.   Press E Group, CIC

6    The PIO
    Indian Medical Association
    I.M.A. House
    Indraprastha Marg,
    New Delhi-110 002

IMA threatening me, charges Kerala doctor

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI:, NOVEMBER 02, 2010 00:00 IST

UPDATED: NOVEMBER 02, 2010 04:10 IST

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A senior doctor in Kerala, Dr. Babu K. V., who went public against the Indian Medical Association (IMA) – the largest non-government organisation of doctors – for endorsing a fruit juice marketed by a multinational company, has now complained to the Medical Council of India (MCI) about IMA threatening to cancel his membership.

“I have persistently campaigned against the unethical and illegal endorsement of this fruit juice by IMA and was served a show-cause notice by IMA Kerala on October 13 this year for talking to the Press on the issue. I have now appealed to the MCI to look into the matter,” said Dr. Babu.

“The IMA central working committee endorsed the fruit juice marketed by the MNC in 2008 for which it was to receive Rs.1.56 crore till next year in six instalments of Rs. 26 lakh each. This is in violation of the code of medical ethics 2002 and 2009 and the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act Section 39. I approached the MCI and the National Human Rights Commission and also spoke to the Press when asked for my comments. The code of medical ethics gives me ample freedom to expose unethical practises,” added Dr. Babu.

Reports by the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, have noted that more than 300 ml of juice given to children under five years for quite some time will lead to obesity and dwarfism.

“This is one of the products endorsed by the IMA. By issuing a show-cause notice to me for talking to the Press they are asking me to be silent or support the illegal and unethical action on their part,” said Dr. Babu.

When contacted, a senior IMA member refused to comment on the endorsement issue and opted not to speak about Dr. Babu.

“I have no comment to make,” said IMA honorary secretary-general Dr. Dharam Prakash.

MCI deputy secretary Dr. Reena Nayyar said: “We will discussthe issue at a meeting to be held soon. IMA cannot take the decision without the MCI looking into the entire issue first.”

“For talking to the Press on IMA's unethical and illegal endorsement”

Whistleblower doctor accused of making false report

In a supreme irony, the whistleblower doctor who complained to the Medical Council of India (MCI) against the Indian Medical Association (IMA) earning crores of rupees by endorsing commercial products has been made the accused by the council for a 'false report' against office bearers of the IMA Kerala branch. Interestingly, Dr Ajay Kumar, president of the IMA in 2008, who was found guilty of professional misconduct for being party to the decision to endorse commercial products, is now a member of the MCI Ethics Committee, the same committee that had decided to penalize him for professional misconduct in December 2010. In yet another twist, the council, which said it had no jurisdiction over doctors' associations like the IMA but only over individual doctors, has sent a summons to a non-doctor, for 'false reports' against office bearers of IMA Kerala branch. Despite MCI having no jurisdiction over anyone other than doctors, the council "directed" Bindu K V, a non-doctor living in Payyanur, Kerala, "to appear for hearing before the ethics committee at its meeting scheduled to be held on 19 July, 2014" in the council office in Delhi.
Bindu K V happens to be the wife of Dr K V Babu, the whistleblower who complained to the MCI against the IMA office bearers and members who were party to the decision to endorse commercial products. Endorsement of commercial products by doctors is against the code of ethics of the MCI. Both Dr Babu and Bindu have been summoned from Kerala to the MCI office in Delhi for 'false reports' against the IMA office bearers of the Kerala branch. According to the medical code of ethics, a doctor "should expose, without fear or favour, incompetent or corrupt, dishonest or unethical conduct on the part of members of the profession". Ironically, it seems Dr Babu is being harassed by MCI for upholding this code. In the 69th meeting of the central council of the

In the 69th meeting of the central council of the IMA held in December 2008, Dr Ajay Kumar, then national president, Dr M Abbas, national president (elect) and Dr S N Misra, secretary general of the IMA took part in the endorsement committee meeting. According to the minutes of the meeting, the endorsement committee held a detailed discussion on the proposal of PepsiCo India and Dabur India for endorsement of Quaker Oats and Tropicana juices of PepsiCo and Odomos cream, gel and lotion of Dabur and decided to endorse the products. In exchange, PepsiCo was to pay Rs 46 lakh per annum for three years (a total of Rs 1.38 crore) and Dabur was to pay Rs 23 lakh per annum for three years (a total of Rs 69 lakh). The health ministry had issued a statement on February 21, 2014 through the Press Information Bureau (PIB) that then health • ister Ghulam Nabi Azad had informed the Lok Sabha that the MCI Ethics Comm e had decided to remove the names of president and secretary of the IMA from the Indian Medical Register for a period of six months and to issue letters of censure to all members of the executive committee of the IMA on the endorsement issue.

IMARead more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/39581241.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Is MCI ignoring its own decision to protect whistleblower doctors?

Friday, January 24, 2014

by Vidhi Rathee

inShare

New Delhi: Six years from the time when Dr K V Babu, a physician from Kerala, raised the issue of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) decision to endorse PepsiCo’s food products in violation of the medical code of ethics, any strong outcome is still awaited by the newly appointed Medical Council of India (MCI).

IMA had in April 2008 signed a Rs 2.25-crore contract with PepsiCo to allow Tropicana juice and Quaker oats to use its logo on their packs for three years. The matter snowballed into a controversy when Dr Babu took up the matter and complained to the MCI against the endorsements and brought out details of endorsements by filing multiple RTI applications.

In 2010, MCI removed the name of IMA president Dr G Samaram and secretary Dr Dharam Prakash for six months and censured 187 IMA executive committee members with a warning not to repeat such practices in future.

Following the episode, the IMA and office bearers of its Kerala branch served Dr Babu a show cause notice and threatened to expel him from the association for talking to the Press, the MCI and the Health Ministry about the IMA endorsing products of companies — PepsiCo and Dabur.

In June 2013, the ethics committee of MCI heard a complaint filed by Dr Babu and upheld a doctor’s right to be a whistleblower against members of his own profession and professional associations and had decided to penalize Dr Dharam Prakash, Dr A V Babu, Dr D R Rai and Dr Rajagopalan Nair of the IMA by having their names struck off from the Indian Medical Register for one year. The ethics committee also concluded that the issuance of show cause notice to Dr Babu by the IMA office bearers had caused undue harassment to Dr Babu and amounted to violation of the MCI Ethics Regulations.

However, even after more than six months, the minutes of this meeting are hanging fire. Even the newly elected MCI, which took over in mid-December and held an ethics committee meeting on December 19, did not take any significant decision in this regard. Its own order on the right of a doctor to be a whistleblower awaits nod.

Dr Babu told India Medical Times, “The statutory body that should uphold medical ethics, should act immediately. Otherwise the ministry of health should invoke section 30 of the IMC ACT 1956 and make it sure that rules of the land prevails.”

Dr Jayaprakash, associate professor, paediatrics, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, told India Medical Times, “We strongly endorse the campaign launched against Pepsi endorsement by Dr K V Babu. He has been rightly protesting against the unethical values being followed in the medical profession.”

“IMA is expected to be a responsible body and the endorsements done by it are unprofessional and harm the people’s trust in the integrity of the medical profession in India. The newly elected MCI is expected to show some direction by taking a stance on the matter,” he said.

The matter has also attracted attention of Parliamentarians who have urged the MCI to protect the whistleblowers and punish the harassers.

CPM Polit Bureau member and former Member of Parliament Brinda Karat while speaking on the issue told India Medical Times, “I have already sent the letter to the Medical Council of India seeking explanations why they have not implemented the recommendations of the ethics committee taken in its June 2013 meeting to punish the wrong doers.”

“I have urged the MCI to maintain the repute and uphold ethical standards by protecting a whistleblower doctor who exposed unethical practices of the IMA,” she said.

While the issue has raised a positive discussion on the need to protect the doctors who expose the unethical practice being followed in the profession, all eyes are set on the newly constituted MCI for some action that would prove its effectiveness and the objective to be transparent.

by Vidhi Rathee

Categories: NEWS

Tags: Brinda Karat, Controversy, Dabur, Dr A V Babu, Dr D R Rai, Dr Dharam Prakash, Dr G Samaram, Dr Jayaprakash, Dr K V Babu, Dr Rajagopalan Nair, Endorsement, Health Ministry, IMA, MCI, Medical Ethics, Pepsi, Quaker, Tropicana, Whistleblower

Doctor seeks action against medical council
Tuesday, November 15, 2016

inShare
Thiruvananthapuram: Alleging deliberate inaction on the part of Travancore-Cochin Medical Council (TCMC) against hospitals that have published advertisements flouting norms, Dr K V Babu, a medical practitioner from Payyannur, has written to health minister seeking intervention.

Dr Babu has pointed out that the advertisements by a hospital in Kochi with the photographs of doctors was against the rules stipulated by the Medical Council of India (MCI), reports ToI.

“It has come to the notice of the council that a hospital in Kochi has come up with an advertisement with the photographs of doctors practising in the hospital. The doctors or hospitals are not supposed to be part of advertisements and, if found guilty, disciplinary action would be taken against the doctors,” said a circular issued by the registrar of the council while considering the complaint.

Categories: Hospitals, NEWS
Tags: Dr K V Babu, Hospital Advertisements, MCI, TCMC

WHISTLEBLOWER Dr KV Babu has risked his medical career to expose a gross violation of law by India’s largest body of medical practitioners (Photo: MADHURAJ)

Rema Nagarajan

30 May 2013, TNN

May 30, 2013: It is exactly five years since Dr K V Babu took up the issue of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) endorsing the products of various companies in violation of the medical code of ethics. The case continues to drag on as the Medical Council of India (MCI) gave one more chance for Dr Rajagopalan Nair, Kerala state secretary of the IMA to appear before it after he failed to do so on two previous dates given to him.

On May 30, 2008, Dr Babu complained to the IMA national president about IMAs endorsement of products of various companies like Pepsico and Dabur. Instead of being lauded for having prevented the association from violating the code of ethics, Dr Babu has been harassed by the IMA, which had to forego crores of rupees that it used to earn from endorsement of products.

Even the MCI which is supposed to regulate the medical profession has been dragging its feet in helping an individual doctor’s efforts to ensure compliance of the ethics code. The battle goes on  relentlessly as IMA continues to harass Dr Babu for standing up against the system, while Dr Babu persists in fighting his lone battle against the largest and most powerful association of doctors in the country.

The saga of endorsement and harassment:

April 2008– IMA Central Working Committee met and decided to endorse Pepsico products -Tropicana and Quaker

May 2008– Dr Babu K V complained to IMA national president that endorsement was unethical according to the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) code of ethics for doctors

June 2008– Complaint was filed against IMA endorsement to MCI.

August 2008-MCI sent show-cause notice to IMA on endorsement issue

November 2008– IMA ratified minutes of the meeting regarding endorsement

May, June 2009– MCI sent several notices to IMA

July 2009– Ethics committee of MCI took up the issue and decided that IMA was not under the jurisdiction of MCI

July 2009– Dr Babu approached the health ministry to take action against MCI for not upholding the code of ethics.

-Health ministry asked MCI to take up the issue again

August/September 2009– MCI sought legal opinion on whether endorsement by IMA was unethical and whether IMA was within the jurisdiction of MCI

November 2009-Dr Babu approached Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) as no reply was coming from MCI on RTI application on whether endorsement by medical associations was unethical or not. CIC directed MCI to reply by December 31, 2009.

November 30,2009– IMA decided to stop all endorsements in future but would continue already signed MoUs for endorsement

December 2009– MCI clarified that IMA was within the jurisdiction of the code of ethics and that code of ethics was applicable not only to individual doctors but also to professional associations of doctors

March 2010– MCI ethics committee again decided IMA not within jurisdiction on basis of legal opinion of an outdated legal opinion prior to the clarification

April 2010– Dr Babu complained again to the ethics committee of the MCI

May 2010– Dr Babu wrote to MCI seeking information on why no action was taken against office bearers of IMA for violating the code of ethics or MCI regulations 2002 which prohibits endorsement of any commercial product by a physician or group of physicians.

June 2010– NHRC in response to Babu’s complaint directed Health Ministry to take appropriate action on complaint against IMA

July 2010– MCI claimed that IMA was not under its jurisdiction and that action could only be taken on complaints against individual doctors

August 2010– Dr Babu sent a complaint to MCI again, naming individual doctors, 187 members of the Central Working Committee of IMA who decided on the endorsement

MCI declared that IMA was under its jurisdiction and sent show cause notice to IMA

November 2010– Board of governors of the MCI declared IMA endorsement unethical and asked for it to be stopped immediately. Penal action, if any, was to be decided on November 9, 2010

Health minister informed Parliament that MCI had decided to remove the names of the national president of IMA Dr G. Samaram and secretary Dr Dharam Praksh, for 6 months and censure 61 members of the IMA executive.

January 2011– Dr Babu filed a complaint filed to Delhi Medical Council pointing out that the endorsement had not been stopped despite MCI directions

February 2011– PepsiCo stopped using logo and health message of IMA on Quaker oats and Tropicana

IMA Kerala branch decided to expel Dr Babu from IMA for bringing disrepute to the association by complaining to MCI and going to the media

Dr Babu complained to MCI, DMC and Kerala state medical council regarding threat of expulsion and harassment

March 2011-Pepsico officially withdrew IMA endorsement nine months before MoU was supposed to run out.

April 2011– IMA CWC rejects request of MA Kerala to expel Dr Babu since it was not as per IMA bye laws. Request for expulsion was sent back to IMA Kerala

May 2011– MCI and DMC refuse to intervene saying it is a dispute between a member and an association

August 2012– Notice issued from IMA Kerala to Dr Babu appear in person for being instrumental in the publication of an article on the endorsement issue in the press.

Dr Babu complained to the MCI to intervene in the matter

October 2012-Dr Babu appealed to the Health Ministry as MCI was not taking any action on his complaint of IMA’s harassment

November 22, 2012– Health Ministry sought comments from MCI on Dr Babu’s appeal

Jan 22, 2013: MCI ethics committee examined the complaint and discussed the issue

March 22, 2013: Summoned Dr Babu and Dr Rajagopalan Nair, former IMA state secretary. Both parties could not attend

April 26, 2013: Dr Babu and Dr Rajagopalan summoned again. Dr Babu appeared before the MCI ethics committee and presented his case and submitted relevant documents. Dr Rajagopalan failed to appear

May 24, 2013– Dr Rajagopalan was summoned again. He did not appear and the ethics committee has decided to give him one more chance to appear next month.

And so the quest for justice drags on beyond five years.