The image of a newspaper clipping is going viral on social media (here, here, and here), claiming that a patient understood the doctor’s prescription, leading the Medical Council to cancel the doctor’s certificate. Let’s verify the authenticity of the claim.
Claim: A newspaper clipping that reports that when a patient understood the doctor’s prescription, the Medical Council cancelled the doctor’s certificate.
Fact: The news in the viral newspaper clipping is not true. It was part of a satirical article published by Navbharat Times on 11 December 2019 under the “HawaBaji” section, which features jokes and light-hearted content for entertainment. A disclaimer on their social media humour section clarifies that the content is meant for enjoyment, and any comments should not be taken as Navbharat Times agreeing or disagreeing with them. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To get more information, we conducted a relevant Google keyword search, which led us to a Navbharat Times report dated 11 December 2019 with a similar headline: “The patient understood the prescription written by the doctor; the Medical Council cancelled the certificate.”
We noticed that this article was published under “HawaBaji,” a section in Navbharat Times dedicated to jokes and satirical content. This section includes various jokes, memes, and light-hearted satire intended purely for entertainment.
We also found a disclaimer in their social media humour section, which stated that they aim to bring interesting content being shared globally. The goal is for readers to enjoy it, and any comment published on this page should not be interpreted as Navbharat Times agreeing or disagreeing with it.
Factly has previously debunked similar claims from Navbharat Times’ satirical and humorous articles, which were shared as real news (here, and here).
To sum up, a satirical article clipping of Navbharat Times published in December 2019 about the Medical Council cancelling a doctor’s certificate is shared as real news.
