Doctor axed over fraud in cashless medicine scheme

Jaipur: Senior medical officer Manoj Kumar Jain, who was posted at an emergency OPD of SMS Hospital, was suspended after he was allegedly found involved in a scam under the Rajasthan Govt Health Scheme.

"Jain was recruited by the health directorate as a medical officer. Since he was suspended for his alleged involvement in irregularities under RGHS, we have relieved him from SMS Hospital," said Dr Sushil Bhati, medical superintendent, SMS Hospital.

The department of personnel's deputy secretary, Syed Sheeraz Ali Zaidi, issued order for his immediate suspension on April 22, 2025. Under the RGHS scheme, beneficiaries are provided with free medicines prescribed by a doctor from his clinic. In his private practice from his clinic, Jain prescribed medicines under RGHS. The beneficiaries collect the cashless medicines from chemists, for which chemists get reimbursement from the govt under the scheme.

An RGHS official said, "Based on his prescription, the chemists raised bills of a huge amount which came under our scanner."

The doctor is accused of being in collusion with the chemists to raise the bills on prescriptions. The RGHS officials suspected fraud in the case as he allegedly prescribed expensive medicines without any tests. An audit was conducted on the prescriptions for which claims were raised for medicines from the chemists. The RGHS official said that they found several irregularities in the case. The officials said that they found tampering with the prescription of medicines.