Ayurvedic, homeopathic and Unani doctors were found handling critical care patients in ICUs of top hospitals in Indore and Bengaluru, according to a CNN News18 sting operation. It turns out that many hospitals in these prime cities , underqualified doctors who have Ayurvedic, Unani and Homeopathic doctors have been handling complicated cases like heart surgery.

The special investigation team of CNN News 18 conducted a covert operation by filming these doctors on the sly. In these videos, these doctors have clearly stated that they are in charge of the intensive care units. Several such doctors from Indore, one of whom was a homeopathic doctor, confirmed that they were in charge of emergency cases and critical patients like those undergoing trauma and cardiac arrests. On being asked about their qualifications, they openly stated  that they had degree in BAMS or Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery. The most outrageous part of this exposé is that these were not hospitals in the rural parts of the country where medical services are scarce; in fact, these hospitals are situated in the plushest part of the city, catering to some of the well-heeled members.

According to the norms of the Ministry of Family Health and Welfare, an ICU should have a full-time director in charge; the doctor should be a senior accredited specialist; have a PG in anesthesiology, intensive care or surgery; with 5-7 years of intensive care education and a PG degree approved by the Medical Council of India. Far from that, the sting revealed that the ones in charge at these hospitals didn't even have a basic MBBS degree.

In the past couple of months, reputed, multi-specialty hospitals in the country have received a lot of bad press with allegations about negligence, corruption and inflated medical bills flying fast and thick. This exposé has driven yet another nail into their credibility coffin and it's difficult to imagine how they will redeem themselves from this scandal.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 14, 2018 04:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).