New Delhi: The alleged exploits of Narendra Vikramaditya Yadav who claimed to be UK-trained cardiologist ‘Dr John Camm’, working across states for over 20 years, highlighted the gaps in tracking doctors’ professional histories. The National Medical Commission (NMC) now wants one national Unique Identification (UID) and a central record of disciplinary action.
The fake cardiologist’s case exposed the difficulty in tracking a doctor’s professional history across states. The NMC now wants to address part of this gap. Doctors facing allegations of professional misconduct or medical negligence could have disciplinary action recorded in a national database under a new NMC proposal, as the regulator moves towards giving registered doctors a single UID to practise across India.
The proposal is part of the NMC’s draft Registration of Medical Practitioners and Licence to Practice Medicine (Amendment) Regulations, 2026, published on 11 August.
The draft proposes making the existing National Medical Register (NMR) a central repository of doctors’ registration details and disciplinary proceedings, including orders of suspension, removal and restoration.
At present, doctors are registered with State Medical Councils, while the NMR is meant to serve as a national database. But the two systems have not been fully synchronised, making it difficult to ensure that changes in a doctor’s registration status or disciplinary record are reflected nationally.
The new draft seeks to link the two electronically. Under the proposal, once a doctor or foreign medical graduate (FMG) is registered with a State Medical Council, the NMC’s Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) would generate a UID. The UID would allow the practitioner to practise medicine anywhere in India without having to obtain fresh registration or a licence in another state.
The NMR is not a new database. It was created under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 as a national register of medical practitioners and launched in 2024, replacing the older Indian Medical Register.
The draft proposes electronically synchronising the NMR with State Medical Registers so that changes in one register are automatically reflected in the other.
The draft also proposes a new Regulation 9A to decide which State Medical Council will handle cases of professional misconduct, unethical conduct or medical negligence.
Under the proposal, the State Medical Council in whose territorial jurisdiction the alleged incident took place would have jurisdiction to inquire into and decide the matter. It would also be able to implement its decision and reflect it against the doctor’s credentials in the online register.
Dr Akshay Dongardive, former national president of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), said the move could improve transparency and accountability if proper due process is followed. “A doctor with serious professional misconduct shouldn’t simply move to another state and start practising as if nothing happened,” he said.
Dongardive said the proposed UID could be particularly useful for senior residents and faculty moving between states, doctors working in multiple states, private practitioners and doctors shifting after postgraduate training.
How will disciplinary action follow doctors across states?
The draft says the NMR will record disciplinary proceedings and orders issued by State Medical Councils, the EMRB or the NMC.
Where disciplinary action is recommended by a State Medical Council other than the doctor’s primary State Medical Council, the action would be reflected in the NMR, with corresponding automatic updating of the State Medical Register where the doctor is primarily registered.
The NMR would also show whether a doctor’s licence is active or inactive, along with details of disciplinary action. The NMC and EMRB would have the power to seek information, call for records and monitor State Medical Councils to ensure uniformity and transparency in maintaining registration records.
Dongardive, however, said the system would need safeguards. “The proposal gives an important role to the State Medical Council where the incident occurred in cases of misconduct or negligence. But there needs to be absolute clarity on how an order passed by one State Medical Council will be implemented nationally,” he said.
He said FAIMA supports national uniformity but not excessive centralisation.
What happens to existing doctors?
Doctors already enrolled in the Indian Medical Register or a State Medical Register but without an NMR UID would have to update their details on the EMRB portal and obtain the UID as a one-time measure. No fee would be charged.
The draft does not specify a fixed three-month deadline for this process. Instead, it says, the period will be decided by the EMRB.
The draft also proposes a five-year validity period for licences. If a doctor does not apply for renewal within three months of expiry, their State Register entry would be marked “inactive” and they would not be allowed to practise. The inactive status would automatically be reflected in the NMR.
Doctors whose application for registration, licence or renewal is rejected by a State Medical Council would also be able to appeal to the EMRB within 30 days. The EMRB would have to decide the appeal within 30 days, and if it allows the appeal, the State Medical Council would have to comply within 15 days.
The NMC has invited objections and suggestions on the draft for 30 days.
Dr John Camm’s trail had stretched across several states. In 2006, he worked at a private hospital in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, where he allegedly performed a surgery on former Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker Rajendra Prasad Shukla, who died less than a month later.
Later, he worked at hospitals in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh before his alleged fake qualifications were flagged by a Noida hospital in 2013. He later managed a hospital in Hyderabad and resurfaced at Mission Hospital in Damoh in 2025, where he allegedly performed cardiac procedures using false identity. Police began investigating after allegations that seven patients died following procedures conducted by him. He was arrested in April 2025.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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