IMA sends Rs 50-cr legal notice to 'motivational speaker'

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sent a legal notice to a "motivational speaker" for allegedly referring to doctors as "murderers in white coats" and projecting them in bad light on an online public platform.
Stating that the video posted on YouTube has caused a loss of reputation to medical professionals, the doctors' body has claimed Rs 50 crore in damages for defaming them.
The association has also sought an apology from the speaker and the removal of the video from the Internet, IMA's K K Aggarwal said.
Its national president Ravi Wankhedkar said the video will further worsen the doctor-patient relationship.

The speaker in the video - 'Indian Medical System Ki Asliyat' - purportedly describes how doctors allegedly mislead patients to make money and meet test and surgery targets.
He has allegedly referred to doctors as "'safed coat ke khooni lootere' (murderers in white coats)."

Following the IMA action, the Delhi Medical Association (DMA), too, has sent a notice to the speaker while the Jaipur Medical Association has approached a court.
"Our client has been shocked and surprised to see the impugned video as the same contains several false, and baseless averments and is a result of incorrect and grossly irresponsible publicising/posting," the DMA notice read.

"The impugned video is not only a glaring case of incorrect posting based on utter conjectures and surmises, having no rational basis whatsoever but the same has been published with malafide intent to adversely affect and besmirch the name and repute of the medical professional of our country," it read.