The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, who are performing Aesthetic and Hair Transplant surgery even though they are not “qualified” for it, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) case has been filed at the Bombay High Court.
In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) suit, the Dynamic Dermatologist and Hair Transplant Association filed a challenge to the Dental Council of India’s (DCI) December 6, 2022, guidelines allowing oral and maxillofacial surgeons, or dental practitioners, to perform hair transplant and aesthetic surgery all over the nation.
A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar heard the PIL and requested clarifications regarding the existence of the National Dental Commission of India (NDCI) in accordance with the recently enacted National Dental Commission Act, 2023. The bench said it will provide the NDCI as a respondent to the current petition.
Advocate Shrikrishna Ganbavale told the court during the hearing, that dental practitioners were undertaking hair transplant surgery. Following the prescribed guidelines, the counsel submitted , “These surgeons are basically dentists, who don’t study hair transplants…They do not study or are not trained to perform hair transplant surgeries, thus the petitioner association has filed this PIL,”.
Chief Justice Upadhyaya, however, noted that the Medical Council of India had also accepted the guidelines. The Chief Justice said, “The Medical Council of India is a statutory body comprising of professionals. If in their view an oral and maxillofacial surgeon is competent to do hair transplant then what’s the issue? They are experts. We cannot comment on this. They know better than us,” .
However, the judges decided to make the NDCI a party to the case and consequently adjourned the hearing until September 19.
Notably, the petitioners—an association of dermatologists and hair transplant surgeons—stated in their petition that they have received numerous complaints about the practice of dermatology and hair transplantation carried out by dental practitioners who are certified as oral and maxillofacial surgeons from both the general public and other surgeons. Additionally, these dentists are marketing themselves as dermatology and hair transplant surgeons, which further draws the public to these unlicensed professionals via deceptive and confusing advertising.
As per the Petitioner’s statement, “The procedure of Hair Transplant and Dermatology is a very meticulous one which can only be administered by a specialist & who has gone through the specific training. Any ignorance to the procedure or lack of knowledge could prove fatal and lead to facial injuries of the patient. It is relevant to mention that the Supreme Court in Poonam Verma vs Ashwin Patel held that ‘any person who does not know any particular system of medicine but then also practices in that concerned system then he will be held guilty of medical negligence’,”.
The proliferation of social media platforms has significantly expanded the reach of unqualified Dental Practitioners posing as Dermatologists or Hair Transplant Surgeons, negatively impacting the professions of qualified Dermatologists and Hair Transplant Surgeons due to the absence of regulation on illicit advertisements, as emphasised in the plea.
The plea stated, “The Petitioner is a registered organization of registered medical practitioners and off lately has been receiving several complaints and has also been observing by themselves regarding several illegal advertisements on Social Media platforms and in person at several locations. These advertisements in turn lure general public towards the unqualified Dermatologists and Hair Transplant Surgeons which would in turn pose a threat to the life of such innocent persons as they could suffer severe facial injuries due to the lack of knowledge and training. There were also several complaints made to the government authorities, Indian Dental Council and health officers to take appropriate actions. However, led to mere suspension of such unqualified practitioners and did not amount to the authorities taking any action which would prevent such transgression,”.
As a result, the petitioner has asked the relevant authorities to reverse the December 6, 2022 guidelines. Additionally, the request demands that dental professionals who promote hair transplants be held accountable. A prohibition on such ads by dentists and the establishment of an committee to ensure that dentists do not do such surgeries are among the many requests included in the petition.