This practice is prevalent in states such as Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.
On the occasion of International Day for Yoga, the AYUSH minister Harak Singh Rawat on Monday announced that state Ayurvedic doctors will now be able to prescribe select allopathic medicines to patients in emergencies. He said the decision has been taken to benefit the people who reside in remote hilly areas of the state where mostly ayurvedic doctors are running the primary health centres (PHC). Mr Rawat further added there are around 800 ayurvedic doctors in Uttarakhand and as many ayurvedic dispensaries, of which 90% are located in the remote hill areas. He also said this will require changes in the Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Chikitsa Adhiniyam, 1939, and the decision will help people living in the disaster and accident prone hill areas who are deprived of proper healthcare facilities. Uttarakhand will be one of the few states in the country where Ayurvedic practitioners will be able to prescribe around 70 allopathic medicines to patients for emergency use, reported TOI. This practice is prevalent in states such as Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Uttarakhand, objected to the government's new policy. IMA Uttarakhand secretary Ajay Khanna termed it “illegal" and said it falls into the category of "mixopathy.” He added that mixopathy will harm patients in an emergency and even the Apex Court and the high courts have made it clear in the past that “Ayurvedic doctors cannot practice allopathy as they are not qualified for it." Whereas Hardev Singh Rawat, general secretary of Ayurveda and Unani Services of the state department clarifying the ground situation of the issue said that in Uttarakhand, after the tehsil level, allopathic doctors are usually not found and people find themselves helpless as they do not have any doctor to go to. Either government allopathic doctors do not join their posting in remote areas or they allow pharmacists to take charge of everything, he further added.
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