Sandhya Ravishankar, Chennai: There are over 50,000 known quacks in Tamil Nadu especially in the rural areas, endangering lives of the public with their unlicensed practice of medicine.

It’s a trend that's worrying doctors. “There was a young man who had come to me with kidney problems. We recommended dialysis and kidney transplant for him. But he went to an alternate medical practice and they gave him herbal medicines.

He came back with his body swollen, bleeding and was comatose. He died due to these herbal medicines,” said Nephrologist Dr P Soundara Rajan.

Following a petition by the Indian Medical Association, the Madras High Court had directed the state in June to crack down on quacks within six weeks. But doctors allege that no action has been taken.

“The government hasn't taken any action in this regard. These quacks are endangering the lives of thousands of people in the state, especially in the rural areas. We need a law like the anti-quackery law in Delhi to be enforced in Tamil Nadu,” said Tamil Nadu State Secretary, Indian Medical Association, Dr TN Ravishankar.

The government though says that it is difficult to take action especially because there are branches of medicine like Siddha and Ayurveda, which are being practiced successfully, and people believe in them.

So it is difficult to distinguish between the quacks and the actual doctors in these fields. These branches of medicine also do not require licenses, which makes the government's job more difficult.

While a large majority of Tamil Nadu is at the risk of being misdiagnosed and mistreated, the state government is yet to take even the initial step of identifying the quacks.