Dharwad: Karnataka Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Kogodu Thimmappa on June 2 issued a warning to all government doctors running private hospitals and nursing homes in the state to refrain from doing so as "such practice was against the rules".

Thimmappa told reporters that he had ordered the health department to initiate action against such government doctors as he had been receiving many complaints in this regard.

The government doctors are however free to attend to patients in their homes during their free (off) hours, he said.

All district health departments are equipped to deal with any SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) case in the state, the minister said.

To a question, Thimmappa said the government is awaiting report from the drug control department on the selling of non-standardised drugs in the state and Lok Ayukta's report on alleged drug purchase scam by the health department is also being looked into.

As many as 20 cases have been booked against manufacturers supplying non-standardised drugs in the state and estimated loss incurred by the general public in this regard is Rs 200 crore, Thimmappa said.

The government has written to other states including Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra and West Bengal to initiate action against these spurious drug manufacturers, he said.

PTI