Kanpur doctor leaves hospital, his driver picks up stethoscope; starts prescribing medicines to patients

A shocking incident has come to light at Kanshiram Hospital in Kanpur, where a doctor's driver allegedly prescribed medicines to patients while the emergency medical officer was away attending a court hearing. A video of the incident reportedly went viral on social media. The footage allegedly showed the driver sitting in the hospital's OPD, calling patients one by one, asking about their illnesses and writing medicines on paper slips.

What happened when the doctor left the hospital?

According to TOI, emergency medical officer Dr Ramkesh was away from Kanshiram Hospital on Monday as he had gone to attend a court hearing.


During his absence, his driver was allegedly seen sitting in the OPD and dealing with patients.

The driver reportedly called patients individually and asked them about their health problems before writing prescriptions for medicines.

Did the driver actually prescribe medicines?

The viral video allegedly showed the driver writing prescriptions on paper slips after speaking to patients.

The incident came to the notice of hospital authorities after the video circulated on social media.

The driver also allegedly told patients that the medicines they needed were not available at the hospital and that they would have to purchase them from outside.

What did the hospital authorities do?

Kanshiram Hospital CMS Dr Piyush Mishra took cognisance of the viral video and sought an explanation from Dr Ramkesh.

The CMS said action would be taken based on the doctor's response.

Hospital authorities also made it clear that outsiders would not be allowed to prescribe medicines in the hospital or OPD in place of doctors.

What did the doctor say about his driver?

Dr Ramkesh acknowledged that the person seen writing prescriptions in the video was his driver.

He told hospital authorities that he had gone to court for a hearing and said the person writing the prescriptions was perhaps his driver.

Ramkesh also said he had removed the driver after learning that he had acted arbitrarily.

What warning did the hospital issue?

Dr Piyush Mishra warned that if any outsider was again found prescribing medicines in the hospital or OPD in place of a doctor, action would be taken.

He also said an FIR would be registered against the doctor concerned if such an incident happened again.

The hospital is now examining the doctor's explanation before deciding on further action.

Why has the incident raised concern?

The incident has drawn attention because patients were allegedly being asked about their illnesses and given medicine prescriptions by a person who was working as the doctor's driver.

The hospital authorities have sought an explanation from the doctor and said further action will depend on his response.

Inputs from TOI