By Matters India Reporter

Kochi, October 17, 2019: The Indian Medical Association, a national voluntary organization of more than 300,000 doctors in the country, has decided to probe a doctor’s certificate confirming a miracle cure through the intercession of India’s new saint Mariam Thresia.

The association’s move comes in the wake of widespread criticism against one of its members who reportedly certified that the miracle that cured a newborn of its illness.

The association has asked its ethics committee to “conduct an inquiry into the incident and find out whether there is an ethical violation or not” in the certification of the miracle.

One of the miracles reportedly considered for the canonization was that she saved the life of a premature baby born in Amala Hospital in Thrissur in 2009.

The controversy “regarding the certification of a miraculous escape of one patient who was being treated at Amala Hospital, Thrissur” was discussed at the meeting of the IMA’s Kerala leaders on October 13, the same day the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family was canonized, said N. Sulphi, state general secretary of the organization.

Sister Mariam Thresia was declared a saint by Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican along with four others. She is the fourth person to be declared a saint from Kerala.

The nun belonged to the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala. The canonization requires two miracles performed by a dead person and the miracles will have to be authenticated by the Church.

In this case, V K Srinivasan, a neonatologist of Thrissur’s Amala Institute of Medical Sciences reportedly certified the miracle performed by the saint. However, several doctors came out in public to castigate the certification and pointed out instances where the illness in children was cured when given proper medical treatment.

The IMA’s ethics committee will seek an explanation from Doctor Srinavasan shortly, Sreekumar Vasudevan, the chairman of the Kerala committee, told The Hindu newspaper.

The explanation given by the doctor will be placed before the 14-member ethics committee. If required, the doctor will be summoned by the panel and asked to explain how he came to the conclusion that the reported miracle performed by the saint cured the child, said Vasudevan, who is also IMA’s national convener of the ethics committee.

The IMA established in 1928 looks after the interest of doctors as well as the wellbeing of the community at large.

It has 305458 member doctors through more than 1,700 active local branches in 29 states and Union Territories in India. Headquartered in Kolkata, IMA is the largest association of physicians and medical students in India.

It is also a founder member of the World Medical Association.