Crackdown: Two hospitals lose research institute tag

Under the amendment,unless hospitals produce certification or grant documents from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),they will not be eligible to retain their “research institute” status. Hospitals which cannot produce such proof have been asked to remove the “research” status from their stationery and boards.

Brahm Shakti Hospital in Budh Vihar,one of the two hospitals asked to remove the research tag,still calls itself a “research centre” on its website. Medical Superintendent Dr Ramesh Aggarwal said: “We have removed the research tag from our board in the hospital and all hospital paraphernalia. The website has not been updated,but we will change that.”

Dr B D Attam Hospital,formerly the Dr B D Attam Hospital and Medical Research Centre,has also been made to remove the research status from its name.

Dr B D Attam told Newsline that no research was conducted at his hospital. “We had plans to do research but it never took off. We did have permission from the US FDA and the Drug Controller General of India but the Health department told us that these would not suffice.”

He said the hospital had immediately complied with orders of the Health department. “I was told to produce ICMR certification. I did not want to get into it since it would be a tedious process. Anyway,we are not conducting any research now. The hospital is known by its name,not research status,” he said.

Renewal of registration has become more stringent following the amendment — only a handful of hospitals have been cleared.

“Every year,registration is completed by April. But by this amendment,registration will be renewed every three years,so we are being more careful. We have extended the time for renewal of registration to the end of this month,” the Health official said.