The Kerala State Medical Council (Council of Modern Medicine) has decided to remove the name of a registered medical practitioner from the State Medical Register for a period of three months and has imposed a penalty of ₹1 lakh, for practising with unrecognised and unregistered qualifications, ignoring prior warnings and repeated directives of the council.
This is the second instance in recent times of the KSMC cracking the whip to ensure that all registered medical practitioners follow the ethical guidelines of professional conduct regulating the practice of medicine.
The complaint that Collin Alphonse, a registered medical practitioner in Thiruvananthapuram, was displaying unrecognised and unregistered additional qualifications while in clinical practice was received by the council in 2022. The Ethics Committee of the Modern Medicine Council had summoned Dr. Alphonse on June 14, 2022 for a personal hearing.
During the hearing, the doctor said that though he had appeared for the DNB (Medicine) examination after training from 2007 to 2010, the result was not declared. He claimed that he obtained an MD in Medicine in 2016 and a PhD in Medicine in 2019 from Nicaragua, Central America. He claimed to have applied for an equivalency certificate from the National Medical Commission (NMC) and that the registration process had been initiated with the NMC.
Dr. Alphonse said he had been practising at Jubilee Memorial Hospital since 2019 and asserted that he was unaware that unregistered qualifications should not be displayed for medical practice. He gave an undertaking to the council of corrective action and also tendered an apology.
Ethics Committee stance
The Ethics Committee, however, found that the claim that Dr. Alphonse had applied for an equivalency certificate was misleading, as the NMC does not issue such a certificate. The degrees displayed by Dr. Alphonse were not listed as NMC’s recognised qualifications and he had practised for three years using these qualifications.
The council imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on Dr. Alphonse and directed him to remove the unregistered qualifications from his name board, official seal, and prescription pads, and to submit documentary proof to the council.
However, except for paying the fine of ₹50,000, Dr. Alphonse refused to comply with the rest of the directives, even after a reminder was sent to him. On February 22 this year, the KSMC, during a surprise inspection at Jubilee Memorial Hospital, found that Dr. Alphonse was continuing to practice, displaying the qualifications, MD (Medicine), PG in Diabetology, and FCCM (Critical Care in FC).
The council then issued a show cause notice to him, directing him to appear before the council. In his appearance on June 21, Dr. Alphonse blamed the hospital administration for including the qualifications on the board placed outside his consulting room.
Doctor’s stance
He said that upon receiving the show cause notice he had instructed the hospital authorities to remove the unregistered qualifications from the name board. Dr. Alphonse, however, admitted that he was using the same qualifications in other areas where he had clinical practice, “thinking that the instructions by the council applied only to the practice at Jubilee Memorial Hospital”.
The council, however, held Dr. Alphonse accountable for repeatedly ignoring its directives and continuing his unauthorised practice even though he had paid a penalty for the same offence in 2022.
‘Not a specialist’
The KSMC on July 3, decided to remove his name from the State Medical Register for three months, noting that he had neglected his professional responsibility to ensure accurate and lawful public representation. Dr. Alphonse was also directed to implement corrective measures; not to display unregistered qualifications and not to claim to be a specialist till he was duly qualified to do so.
The doctor has the right to appeal before the Ethics and Medical Registration Board of the National Medical Commission as per Section 30(3) of the NMC Act, 2019, and as per Clause 8.8 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.
Published – July 16, 2025 04:40 pm IST
