Doctors, let us care for the sick, not look at their purse

             Let us  see   HOW  OUR  INDIAN  MBBS DOCTORS

The  Hindu  News paper   OPINION   OPEN PAGE  JULY  3   2011

Doctors, let us care for the sick, not look at their purse

DR. ARAVEETI RAMAYOGAIAH

Dr. Subba Reddy, my classmate at the medical college, practises in a village in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh. A decade ago, a patient came to him for treatment of hydrocele. After examination, Dr. Reddy suggested surgery costing Rs. 500. The patient asked Dr. Reddy to refer him to a bigger hospital in a city. Dr. Reddy suggested a city hospital. After a few days, he received Rs.1,000 from the hospital!

A patient approached a doctor at Vijayawada for liver abscess. The doctor said he would treat him and the fee was Rs. 2,000. The patient left him and got treated in a corporate hospital. Our doctor received Rs. 6,000 from the hospital.

Dr. Krishna Reddy, another classmate is a whole time paediatrician at Jammalamadugu, a medium town in Andhra Pradesh. One day, to his surprise he received Rs. 2,000 from a corporate hospital. He did not refer any child there, but children are his regular patients. Two decades ago, I received a letter from a fertility centre in Hyderabad asking me to refer women with fertility problems. The letter said: you will be well taken care of!

Called cut practice/fee splitting, this is a totally unethical practice. It represents a conflict of interest which may adversely affect patient care. Whose money is this? What is the health derived by the patient by parting with this money? Nothing. Do you know, dear physicians, that in our country every year 290 million people are pushed into poverty owing to exorbitant medical expenditure? Let us stop this obnoxious trend and the Medical Council of India has a responsibility in this regard.

We, doctors, know for sure from our long years of gruelling studies that most of the symptoms are self-limiting, most others are trivial and very few are serious. In the name of evidence-based medicine and defensive medicine, we order a battery of investigations even for trivial symptoms. The cut practice and cost recovery of hospital equipment play a prime role in decision-making. Unnecessary tests are a loathsome burden on patients and, at times, result in false positive results leading to unscientific treatment.

“It is in the ordering of laboratory or radiological investigations that rational thinking is necessary. Why do I order this investigation? What do I look for in the result? If I find it, will it affect my diagnosis? How will it affect the management of the case? Will this ultimately benefit the patient?” said Richard Asher, a critical medical writer. Let this be the guiding principle for all of us.

“Bring this coupon to get 10% special discount,” read a recent advertisement of a cancer hospital. Another advertisement proclaimed: “Basic health check-up including ECG, etc. — Rs. 500 only and valid till June 30, 2011. As I pass through the streets of any city, I see large hoardings of hospitals beckoning patients and some of them even display the photos of physicians. Many vernacular newspapers/magazines publish articles with the photos of doctors, their phone numbers and addresses of the hospitals. A decade ago, a friend in the media told me that there was a culture of ‘paid articles.' ‘Paid articles' were born prior to ‘paid news'!

I recently saw a chemist shop displaying the signboards of a paediatrician and an obstetrician. The MCI clearly prohibits such practices. Advertising is permitted only for notifying change of address, temporary absence of the doctor from duty, etc. A physician's photograph should not be displayed anywhere if it is for promoting medical practice.

Giddalur in Andhra Pradesh is a town near my village where I had my school education. Pharmacies nowadays pay lakhs of rupees to clinics they are attached to. “What is the cost of the doctor this year?” is the normal jargon among the healthcare people. It may be true of other towns and cities as well. Pharma companies shower doctors with gifts, arrange their birthday parties and trips to conferences at home and abroad. This is a serious professional misconduct.

Again, whose money is this? It is the blood and sweat of millions of our sick brothers and sisters. The World Health Organisation report 2008 clearly laments the influence of the pharma industry on doctors. Dear doctors, let's not be stooges of the industry and let us be saviours of the sick.

The child sex ratio, as per Census 2011, is 914 girls for every 1,000 boys. In 1961, it was 976 girls for 1,000 boys. An unpleasant truth, it will lead to a lot of social turmoil in future. It is all owing to the abominable practices — sex determination, female foeticide and female infanticide. We are largely responsible for this heinous situation. We have violated both the MCI act and the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act. What a shame!

The emblem of the International Red Cross is “The Red Cross on White Background.” This originated in the 1864 Geneva Convention. It is also known as the Geneva Cross. This is inscribed on humanitarian and medical vehicles and buildings to protect them from military attack on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, we are using the Red Cross emblem wherever we like. Our paramedical personnel and even chemists use it. It is a gross violation and punishable as per the existing laws of the nation. Most of us are not even aware of this.

The common symbol to denote medical services is the caduceus, a figure that comprises a short staff rod with two serpents curled around it, sometimes surmounted by wings. It is the staff of Aesculapius, the ancient mythological god of medicine. Let us use this symbol and stop using the Red Cross symbol.

At all times, physicians should notify the public health authorities of every case of communicable disease under their care. We hardly do that. We are not above the law. Our responsible action helps formulate national and international strategies to control communicable diseases.

The prime object of the medical profession is to render service to humanity; reward or financial gain is a subordinate consideration. The people of this nation are kind and generous. They sustain us even in adverse conditions.

“Restore a man to his health, his purse lies open to thee,” said Robert Burton. Come what may, let us be ethical.

(The real names of persons and places are changed to protect privacy. The article relates to practices in allopathic medicine.)

(The writer is a former Additional Director of Health, Andhra Pradesh, and former State coordinator, Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India. His email is: araveeti.ramayogaiah@gmail.com)

Keywords: health care, health care policy, medical service

MORE IN: Open Page | Opinion

COMMENTS:

Nice column, but it comes at a time where Medical Services in India are used a tools against the people. Its not just about losing money, People lose life, loved ones.

from:  Krishna

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 04:37 IST

Now the hospitals are commercialized, they are business to make money not hospitals to treat patients.

from:  Mohammed Khader

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 04:50 IST

A glimmering ray of hope indeed. Dr. Ramayogaiah, Please accept my sincere appreciation of your efforts to bring these things in to light. It it refreshing to know that there are Doctor's out there that still have patient's interests in their hearts. Indian medical profession has neither been accountable to their Professional governing body or the public in general as it is almost impossible to sue a physician for malpractice and win a case in India even in the case of gross unethical behavior like kick backs or malpractice.
It is high time that Indian Medical Association steps up not only to curb this menace of kick backs by revoking the licenses of offending physicians but also set up guide lines for professional behavior and enforce them. You cannot deliver a world class medical service without world class ethics on the part of the physicians. We sorely lack it as of now.

from:  Krishna Dammanna

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 04:57 IST

I always suspected that there is a nexus between doctors, labs and medical stores - this article proves it. Very expensive scans or tests are prescribed by doctors, and when the results are received, the doctor tells that every thing is OK or some thing minor problem, and no need for any medicine. If the patient is rich or an NRI, the doctor treats the patient 'differently'. Do we need a Lokpal to tackle this menace?

from:  D. Chandramouli

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 05:12 IST

Being a medical doctor in Tamilnadu is not a service, its a business and now it is a family business. Unethical practice and unimaginable fee (They are not give recipe or paying tax)and list medicine and blood test for common cold. Even at age 80's they open their eyes till 12midnight to earn this money. GOD save India and Tamilnadu people from these money hungry doctors.

from:  Siva

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 05:23 IST

I wish to point out its time to start like Joint commission international an accrediting body who conducts thorough check of any hospital to see the standards is met with or not which includes labaratory too.In our country there is not even local accredting body which should include ministry of health personals as well adminstrative personals etc. There should be monitoring body as well as local hsopital should conduct audit regularly and submit it to ministry .Unnecessary tests are being done because of the huge kick bag the lab is giving be it radiogy which is the most lucrative for doctors like MRI,CT etc.Audit will reveal out of 100 tests done in a particular center by doctor or in the hospital how many are positive ,if it is in the vicinity of 3-4% the 96% are unwarrented and we may claim medicolegal aspect but a careful documentation by all of us will put an end to the unwanted tests as well informed consent etc.Indian Society of Quality in health has to be started and monitored.

from:  Prof.Dr.AnsariThameem

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 06:32 IST

Thank you, you're a rare doctor. Doctors have many faces, and the biggest names are past masters in picking our purses as they coo soft words of medical wisdom into our ears.Once a neurologist explained why his getting CT Scan fee cuts of 20% were justified: he was the true human link between technology and patient and his consummate skill in scaring the patient enough to get the scan was a key value-add. Scan makers abet this scam by peddling costly new gadgets with bells and whistles of dubious clinical value.

from:  R Sachi

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 06:35 IST

Let us be careful of doctors and hospitals and also newspapers with paid news. We thank The Hindu for its beautiful and useful articles in Open Page.

from:  V.M. Khaleelur Rahman

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 07:13 IST

Superb article.It made me confident that there are some ethical doctors in our society. Author has aptly said about most of our doctors in society. Recently when I accompanied my father to a very famous doctor in Vijayawada,I saw the doctor doing things in parallel.He is examining my father and also talking to his aide about some patient's operation fee not even paying attention to what my father is saying.With out listening to the patient's problems I did not fathom how the doctor will prescribe medicines to him.

from:  Ranjit

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 08:04 IST

Fleece the patient is the name of the game. The paying of large sums of money to get admissions to private medical colleges can be cited as one of the reasons for this. The illogical tax laws of this country is another reason for the same.The fact that paying of medical fees is a perk for employees has also led to this practice. Many a doctor asks whether the company is paying for this teatment before naming the fees.Many diagnostic labs have sprung up everywhere with inaccurate equipment and poorly trained lab technicians.These help the doctors to make additional income.It is not surprising that doctors fleece patients and become rich over night.Most doctors have palatial homes,luxury cars and their families enjoy a life of luxury while they slog day and night to make huge amounts of money.Where will all this end is difficult to predict.

from:  S N Iyer

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 08:07 IST

Well, you sound very cynical. However the kind of medical education that we get, right from the stupid entrances and then work-hours and petty pays. Even someone who actually joined the medical profession for actual service would without doubt become materialistic

from:  Atif

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 08:08 IST

My salutes to you DR. ARAVEETI RAMAYOGAIAH! What else to say....you have stirred the minds of the multitude of readers, a considerable section of whom, I wish, must be some way or other connected with this noble profession..(Noble, when are we going to get rid of such adjectives that we have held in practice irrelevant!)
My family doctor and my bosom friend Dr P V Venkatraman, MD (Homoeo)and his beloved wife Dr S Jagatha, also an MD(Homoeo)have for along been telling us on the host of unethical practices you have highlighted so earnestly and with pain, in your article...I wish and hope, may your tribe increase, in the larger interest of our society that holds in its arms 77% of population numbering 83.6 crore people who cannot spend more than Rs.20 a day, as per the famous findings of Dr Arjun Sengupta's Committee.

from:  S V Venugopalan

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 08:27 IST

The Doctor has highlighed the plight of many patients being treated callously in many a Doctor in big cities. The nexus exists between a chemist, clinical laboratories, big pharma majors and the docotrs has been clearly exposed by the author. Surely, most of the doctors do not know the diagnosis of the disease, thus leaving the patient run from pillar to post in big cities. All the doctors do need to read this article and follow their ethics as has been putforth by the author.

from:  P.S. Srinivas

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 09:14 IST

Again one of the well analysed articles on our deteriorating medical values and practice. Good job by the writer. Every body (including layman) knows medical practitioners are stooges of Pharma industry. Having said this, why is this so ? Why can't we prevent it? How can doctors and common man help in abolishing this vicious cycle ? I will be >happy if more articles in future cover on this topic of avoiding this malpractice, rather than just elaborating on this. Again full credits to >writer for portraying the scenario in the best possible way. Thanks !

from:  Arunkumar

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 09:15 IST

Yes, Dr.Ramayogaiah, your suggestion in 'Open Page' (July 3) to use 'the figure of a short staff rod with two serpents curled around it,' instead of 'Red Cross,' is appropriate -- short staff rod representing the patient and the two greedy and 'killing' serpents representing the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry ! Prof.B.M.Hegde, an unsparing critic, has been relentlessly writing (including in the 'Open Page' columns -- Dec. 5, 2010, etc.) for the past four decades about the malpractices in medical and pharmaceutical fields (www.bmhegde.com).

from:  Dr.T.Rama Prasad

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 09:24 IST

My mom was telling me unlike her time, most babies born in private hospitals/clinics are through ceaserian operation and not natural delivery. One of my cousin's wife was adamant to deliver naturally to avoid surgery/bed rest/side effects/putting on weight. At last moment, doctors said that the child may be in danger because the umbilical cord is struck in neck, suffocating baby. They went for operation under duress and panic. What my mother tells me is this exactly the reason they gave for operation when my aunt was delivering and couple more cases. Its a way to earn extra bucks at cost of complication for patients.

from:  Ashish Sachdeva

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 09:25 IST

A sad but true story.I belong to the medical fraternity and am dismayed and aghast at the manner in which this exploitation is thriving. While this issue will bring bad press to the doctors, it is a matter of consternation. A doctor must first introspect whether he or she actually deserves the money which is taken home. Why does one need ill gotten wealth? There is enough work for everyone.Why desire money which is not hard earned and which is ill gotten? Does it not make one culpable of accepting bribe? while people might say that the cost of medical education is humongous , the statement in itself does not justify this lamentable practise. Moreover most of the people who practise this form of 'cuts' (Sic!) are people whose quality of work is largely sub standard and out of date. However everything is not lost, there are many exemplary examples of selfless doctors who have brought repute not only to themselves but also to their profession. Let us hope that things can be pulled back.

from:  Krishnan

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 09:52 IST

Central govt. must make health insurance for all citizens rich or poor and pt treated in govt. Hospitals or private hospitals. All hospitals should run in through money earned from insurance. No hospital will refuse any patients on economical background. I'm sure hospitals and health services will be available in remotest corner of country. Docters will also go any where with incentive.

from:  Dr Sudhir Kadam

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 10:26 IST

A fine and frank article by Dr.Ramayogaiah. I am reminded of an instance in my life. My mother was diagnosed with heart ailment in 2005 at her 76th year. Surgery was recommended. This was in the Govt. Jayadeva Hospital, Bangalore. As we felt we will be in a queue for the surgery there, we wanted to get it done elsewhere. A family friend took us to her physician-cardiologist Dr.B who referred us to a very popular high tech heart hospital here. One day at the hospital i came across a form where the hospital had mentioned the above said Dr.B's name and Rs.2000 against it. In the remarks column it was mentioned 'Dr.B. has declined the amount.' I felt greatly moved by the gesture of Dr.B. It was then that I came to know of such a practice of making payments to referring doctors by hospitals/clinics/scanning centres. Education and Medicine have been long held to be noble professions. We are in a time where we have to struggle to keep up this epithet.Bangalore

from:  V Subrahmanian

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 11:27 IST

May be government can take cue from sathya sai hospitals at Puttaparthi and Banglore where you don`t find cash counters and operations related to heart,kidney,brain all scan etc are absolutely free of charge..To all patients irrespective of status,caste,creed,sex...may be the author can take few doctors for a trip to see how they are managing. It`s worth emulating one similar hospital in every city.

from:  Malli

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 12:29 IST

Enlightening article! However, it's just not medical profession that is going after bucks rather than giving priority to their primary service.We see the same thing happening in private institutes like schools, colleges and even big corporate institutes. I think the prime reason for this is the social insensitivity growing among people. We have developed an apathy for the plight for our poor brethren primarily the people in an disadvantaged situation.

from:  Anubhav Modi

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 13:04 IST

The article has thrown light on the sad plight of health services. When a vast majority of doctors are money minded,it is truly inspiring that there are out there doctors whose prime concern is to serve the poor! The whole doctor community must not be blamed for the work done by those qualified quacks ,who has taken hippocratic oath as a verbal exercise!

from:  Anu elizabeth Augustine

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 14:23 IST

Can anyone suggest a cure please ?

from:  Dr Amit

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 20:48 IST

Why all sincerity and honesty is expected from a doctor, when doctor faces cheating and corruption at each step. His dream of serving humanity shatters. Yet i can vouch that even most corrupt doctor will show sympathy and empathy with a real needy patient in every day practice. How many of you mud sludging on doctors help poor patients. how many times you have donated the un used medicine of your house to a needy. it is easy to point finger at others, but mind it, the other three are pointing at you. Do you know how many doctors are leaving country, just because there are not good options for them in this country. Does govt take care of his needs. Even he has to purchase land and other hospital infrastructure at market rate. But he do not have money as he did not earn for years as he was studying. Yet his pay is small.

from:  Dr Sham Sunder Goyal

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 21:59 IST

I really do not see how this pernicious 'cut practice /fee Splitting' can be stopped. I was told , in Chennai diagnostic centres providing image scans split upto 60% of the money received from the patient to the doctors who prescribed such scans. The patient has no way of knowing if the scan is essential. Scan centres and Labs involve huge capital outlays which should pay back at least within two to three years. What these centres lose in fee splitting they try to gain by volume which initiates the vicious scycle of doctors prescribing more tests and scans. Should we have a vigilance set up under MCI with investigative and prosecuting authority on the lines of CBI?

from:  R.Sundaram

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 23:03 IST

I agree that there are black sheep in the medical profession(as there are in every other profession in this world).I surely don't support them and they definitely need to be weeded out.But who are the persons who sue doctors because they didn't do certain tests which may have diagnosed a disease early- a certain section of patients - and therefore doctors need to protect themselves from these overzealous persons, most of whom tend to think that everything on the internet is the gospel truth.Regarding deliveries , while there are many docs who want to make a fast buck, there are many patients in the modern world who don't want anything to do with labour pain as such and then there are another set of patients who want to make sure that their child/grandchild is born on a particular date or under a particular star.Doctors too are human beings(not God) and need money to run their families.So,not only the doctor community, but also the PATIENT community too needs to change their attitude!

from:  Dr.Jayakumar

Posted on: Jul 3, 2011 at 23:44 IST

Your article was worth a read and even more were the comments;everyone to include yourself did suggest a way out of this quagmire that has it's tentacles deeply rooted ( only one gentleman wanted to go with the flow!) ;but alas it's only a handful who shall put into practice this idealogue , and sadly even ,it's more of a Hypocratic oath as against the Hippocratic oath that we bear! Every dark cloud has a silver lining, the cult would evolve and so would the growing number of patrons, Patience is a virtue, it always was;time is the answer. Godspeed.

from:  Kalyana Saripalli

Posted on: Jul 4, 2011 at 01:49 IST

My grandma recently went to a doctor suspecting that she was bitten by some harmful insect at night. The doctor ordered 3 days of hospitalization with constant monitoring that costed her several thousand rupees. At the end it turned out nothing happened at all. What a rip off!!

from:  Suman

Posted on: Jul 4, 2011 at 03:33 IST

Illuminative write up, yes. Let us see the other side of the story. Why do the doctors do it? I have witnessed myself instances where the culprit orders unnecessary investigations on a patient just to keep the services going, so that the facility pays for itself. Logical? If the physician does not initiate all those investigations, he is considered inefficient or less informed! The patient seeks treatment elsewhere. If in case the physician has in fact missed a finding there is no excuse and he is to face litigations for his shortcoming. So insurance comes to rescue which has to be paid. The reason in my sincere opinion is the patients have lost the confidence in physicians and the traditional family physician relationship and trust is lost. So it is a vicious circle. One more angle,the heavier the burden to enter medical school, one has to make amends to recompens. I leave the reader to decide for the solution.

from:  Ghouse MG

Posted on: Jul 4, 2011 at 06:56 IST

A small ray of hope for millions of patients. Today free care is a thing of past. Patients have to pay for IV lines, IV fluids, sticking plasters,disposables, antibiotics etc, Most of these items are purchased from local chemists or hospital store. The profit margins in most cases are a whooping 100% or more. Is there any difference between the neighbourhood general store and my doctor?

from:  mesa

Posted on: Jul 4, 2011 at 07:48 IST

Looks like everyone has decided to gang up on doctors! Is there no one
to speak for the doctors or, are you not printing those comments?

from:  MUKUNDAGIRI SADAGOPAN

Posted on: Jul 4, 2011 at 11:31 IST

A frightening article. I knew that doctors received commission from labs and trial clinics, but never in these words where the whole issue is matter of fact.
Joining this profession is no longer to care for the sick, but to make money and also a status symbol. I come from a town quite close to Palakkad in Kerala. The doctors here treat the patients with distain. Patients here cannot ask the doctor what it is that they are suffering from.

from:  Hari Nair

Posted on: Jul 4, 2011 at 11:34 IST

I can say,the major mistake is ours(people)only.Even in good condition or for a simple ailment we go to hospitals for master health check up or medical treatment,where the hospital management will not leave us simply. They will try to pocket our money maximum possible by saying that you have a hole in heart or you have a stone in kidney....some thing else.finally we loose our money and life also.Here in Chennai one allopathy doctor explains clearly the dangerous effects of allopathy medicines and how to get rid off from the clutches of allopathy.His address is www.foolproofcure.net by Dr.Fazlur Rahman

from:  Barathidasan

Posted on: Jul 4, 2011 at 12:32 IST

These heinous practices seriously mock the hippocratic oath!

from:  Paritosh Anand

Posted on: Jul 4, 2011 at 13:26 IST

@Mukundagiri....Let us analyse this situation. In this world of Corporate it is unfair to say that Doctors should not get the high class luxury. Healthcare is one of the most sensitive issues. It is unfair to play with emotions of people. It is indeed an act of stupidiy that doctors advertise because Science comes with limitations and what works for one doesnt work for all. The efficieny of doctor spreads by mouth to mouth not through paid articles of the news papers. It is very easy to trap the emotions of people through big ads. There are various ways to make money, but not in healthcare. Patients come to Doctor with problems in life and we do not want luxury sofas, AC, LCD and all other nonsense stuff. Yes, ultimately they charge us to recover those costs.

from:  Anika

Posted on: Jul 4, 2011 at 14:09 IST

Two years ago my brother met with an accident.He got major foot injury,which created a deep wound on his foot. Despite the good healing the surgeon was firmed on making tissue transplant surgery.At that time i realize the breach of the medical ethics by the doctors.I wish that this article should be read by more people associated with the health. I wish the duty and the vow to serve the humanity should take over in the mind of medical profession rather than filthy lucre. Beacause life is precious,so I deeply request all the person engaged in the noble profession to upheld the decorum of their profession.And thanks for the author to have such an humanitarian article.

from:  Nurul Arfin

Posted on: Jul 5, 2011 at 00:04 IST

Frankly i really dont see any near term solution to this issue. It's a demand supply mismatch and it will not get corrected for a very very long time. The only way this can end - healthcare costs in India become equivalent to that of US/UK.

from:  Ram

Posted on: Jul 5, 2011 at 04:29 IST

The following is an excerpt from my website which is related to the subject in these columns which may be of interest to the readers: 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic. For the past several decades, my consultation fee has not been decided by me, but by the patient. It is optional. The patient may decide on the amount and drop it into the 'hundi' (box to deposit offerings) kept for that purpose, just as is in the case of 'hundis' in temples. If one does not have money, he or she need not give any. In some cases, I extend this facility for investigations also like X-ray, pulmonary function tests, ECG, lab investigations, etc. And part of the money received is given as charity to help the needy. This is my 'not-for-profit', 'Pay what you can' CLINIC. .

from:  Dr.T.Rama Prasad, Perundurai India

Posted on: Jul 5, 2011 at 08:10 IST

Brilliant article, it is eye opener for the doctors who think patients are mere clients for them. They don't think about the sufferings of sick people. So, it is my request from the whole doctor community, please honour your profession, don't be a paracite, you people are just after 'God', respect this position.

from:  Parimal Saurabh

Posted on: Jul 5, 2011 at 10:27 IST

They also came to know that IT people can claim the medical bill from their company and hence they are adding some unwanted medicines to the prescription. This may lead to some side affects to us. Please stop this!!!

from:  Surendhiran K

Posted on: Jul 5, 2011 at 11:21 IST

Now a days, Corporate Hospitals create an atmosphere of emergency for any type of disease with a view to squeeze as much money as possible. Most of the Doctors do not have ethics nor morals. Only money in their mind. Service is the last word in their mind. They press for immediate fee even when the patient is on the death bed. Let us pray to God to provide some sense of humanity to the Doctors who are running after money than service. Of course there are very good doctors who serve the people but their number is very less.

from:  K V S RAO

Posted on: Jul 5, 2011 at 12:11 IST

Its pity the way people are treated by the doctors. It is very well known. Who is responsible for present situation? Is it only doctors? I think no. Its more of our laws and policies. In private medical colleges, seats are filled by donations (at least 20 Lakhs, I feel). How we can expect one to be honest and not worried about himself/herself after paying such a huge donation apart from high level fee. Our top doctors used to go to west for better carriers. Why government is not increasing salaries in India. Provide incentive to them so that they can stay back. Promote high class research in medical sciences. These politicians ready for hike in their salaries at any time, even after a increase of more than 100 % they are protesting. Who care about doctors? Where is the watchdog for medical laws in India? MCI is simply in the hands of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. Whenever I tries to look into a problem in deep, I always found politicians and bureaucrats as the biggest obstacle.

from:  Parveen

Posted on: Jul 5, 2011 at 16:20 IST

after reading this article surely we cannot stop praising it,its completely praise worthy article.Government has to intervene for the matters relating to unethical practices done by the doctors,as patients are lionizing ,and treating doctor as god,so doctors should keep up their values given to them.The doctor is person he should work with humanity rather than for money, the money that they are squeezing from poor middle class people is not money, its their blood,so please work with morals make the people feel happy,and keep up your values you are given.

from:  Srikanth

Posted on: Jul 5, 2011 at 20:25 IST

The article is very worthy. The doctors should think about humanity-- they should not only look for the money.

from:  satheesh

Posted on: Jul 8, 2011 at 16:00 IST

Dear Sir,
Appreciate your effort in putting up this article. As someone said earlier, it really gives confidence that there are few doctors still left who think of serving the man kind with ethical practices. Doctors are living gods because as a patient when we walk to them, we put in so much trust and faith and blindly believe in everything he says. And its so unfortunate that some cash in on this blind trust. Great article and once again my heartful appreciation for having put up this article.

from:  venkat

Posted on: Jul 9, 2011 at 03:27 IST

The society maketh the man. Let me share a kernal of truth as seen by a student doctor.

Yes, I was an open category student with dreams and ideals in my heart and despite qualifing for both medicine and engineering took up medicine.
4 years down the line. I was hitting the books while my engineering friends had finished their degree. 2 years further down the line I had just finished my internship and was in a sea of books trying to get into the elusive scarse post graduate seats while my friends from engineering finished their MBA and landed hot paying jobs. A year further down the line, I was serving the poor and the country as part of compulasry 1 year rural service while my friends wrote to me from lands far away.
3 years later, I had barely completed my postgraduation and with my meagre stipend found it difficult even to go out to have an enjoyable evening when my friend invites me to his new house
.... I am still a student hoping to complete 3 more yrs of speciality training....

from:  student doctor.

Posted on: Jul 9, 2011 at 18:58 IST

Hope our medical institues will create more doctors like you.

from:  narendra

Posted on: Jul 9, 2011 at 20:39 IST

Being a doctor, I think that I can throw some light on it. One thing is the doctors who lack the skills of malpractice will leave the country , if they get the oppertunity irrespective of whatever salary you give.Let us first know the scientific truth. It's a well known fact that if we close all the modern English (Allopathy ) hospitals overnight the no.of patients dying will be less than that with hospitals, because no.of patients die because of errors outnumber no. of patients saved, particularly in developing countries like India where there is no uniform evidence based practice. But we can't do that as it will be very awkward, because in some illnesses modern medicine makes a difference. But we all need to know most of the achievement we had in improving man's life is good hygeine and sanitation measures.As my colleague in the article mentions less than 1% of the medical ailments only will be modified by our intervention and we don't need to do anything for the rest of them.

from:  R.Manivarmane

Posted on: Jul 11, 2011 at 19:53 IST

I don't think society has the right to complain. A corrupt society begets corrupt doctors. The character of a medical student is made in the our homes where s/he spends the first 17-18 years of life, before joining med school. Secondly, a 'doctor' no longer controls healthcare delivery. Government officials and businesses do that. So why blame only the doctor?

from:  Bharat Sharma

Posted on: Jul 17, 2011 at 12:18 IST

In a Country where there is no regulation to access to universal healthcare, such a state of affairs is to be expected. The private sector, for obvious reasons will only be bothered about their returns on investment so will come up with innovative ideas to increase the bottom line.They pay only lip service about caring the health of the Nation while looking for more means to increase yield per bed/equipment ratio.
But what about the Govt. doing by neglecting the Healthcare of the 80% the population who cannot afford to sell everything they have to access the needful care for their loved ones. With less than 1% of GDP allocated for healthcare India is neglecting the health of its Citizen. It is detrimental for the health of the Nation because without healthy Citizens the Country cannot progress.

from:  I Ghanashyam

Posted on: Jul 17, 2011 at 19:07 IST

The article points to the crisis in our present system of health care and health education are facing. But it presents mostly one side of the story. There are many angles to it. As the responses show We are all pointing towards the problem and it seems we are short of innovative ideas to solve the crisis we are facing. 1. Make medical education transparent, accountable, relevant and responsive to change. The private sector can't be left to itself. It has to be regulated. Unless transparency is ensured in this process it's difficult to solve this problem. 2. The areas of health care and medical care should be integrated. We are producing professionals experts in medical care and not health care as a whole. 3. The health care delivery should be made transparent and accountable. The corruption in this system damaging and it affects the persons life directly. 4. The general public should know the limitations of medical care and accept them.

from:  Raj

Posted on: Jul 22, 2011 at 23:12 IST

As one person said earlier, a corrupted society brings everything,even corrupt doctors. I request all of you to please Not to highlight a black dot on a white paper..there are black sheep in every profession.Dont think that keeping a patient in a hospital for 3days who came with a doubt of some insect bite, is for minting money.There are fair chances of getting complications if it were an insect bite,even death.What will you do at home if it were a real bite? Many of you are unaware about how eager will be a Dr about his patient to get him relieved from the disease.How much mental trauma a Dr will undergo for critical cases. And not every student studies by paying lakhs.There are geniuses who get selected among lakhs of aspirants. Please try to understand about life of a doctor. How much struggle he undergoes to serve people at the cost of his own life.. Its always very easy to point towards someone.But also realise that there are number of Good Doctors left in our country.

from:  Dr. Naga.

Posted on: Jul 31, 2011 at 01:05 IST

"Frankly I really dont see any near term solution to this issue."
So interesting to visit your site and read these comments about medical practice in India. There are only long term solutions like educating all health care professionals in ethics, regulating their practice with professional standards, and then making sure that they are paid well enough so that these kinds of "kickbacks" are not necessary.This may only be possible in a universal public health care system where all professionals in the system work in the public interest. These kinds of changes do not happen overnight and require considerable collaboration between governments and professionals but they are essential for maintaining public accountability. I live in Canada so my experiences are quite different from yours but in my country nurses and doctors must be accountable to the public and work in their best interest.

from:  Beverly

Posted on: Oct 4, 2011 at 00:06 IST

 OUR  INDIA  IS  VERY  GREAT  IN   THE   GLOBE !