A Judicial Magistrate First Class court in Bidar district of Karnataka recently convicted three doctors for causing the death of a woman who was operated on by them without having a ventilator facility in the hospital and other lifesaving equipment. This was despite the fact that the committee constituted by the District Surgeon to verify the allegation of medical negligence in its final report has said there is no negligence on the part of the accused during the performance of the LAVH surgery and also shows *how the accused have tried to save the deceased.”*
What is worrying for the doctors is that every death during medical treatment can be a blame against the doctors. If the courts were to impose criminal liability on the hospital and doctors for everything that goes wrong, the doctors now should be more worried about their own safety than giving all the best treatment to their patients. Both Government and Private small hospitals carry out thousands of routine surgeries every day. Occasionally complications may arise in simplest looking procedures – for example even in normal deliveries; what to say about routine surgeries. How many hospitals (Government and private) in districts, town in peripheries are equipped with a ventilatory support system? Perhaps they are too less, although an honest count would be some interesting data. Still, surgeries of the type mentioned are conducted routinely in almost all of these small centres.
So based on one incident of this kind, the thousands of surgeries done in such areas are going to be affected. In other words, doctors will not dare to conduct surgeries in peripheries. As per the verdict of the court, many of the surgical speciality’s doctors in periphery are indulging in blameworthy activities every day in their routine work. Why should they risk their lives and profession in such circumstances? That raises another question , as many Government Hospitals are also without ventilators in the periphery. Should Govt doctors also refuse surgeries without an ICU setup? Any Surgery or even normal delivery in rare circumstances can get complicated and the patient may require ventilator. Usually anaesthetist use Ambu-bag for an emergency situation and transport the patient to other facility. So absence of a ventilator is not life threatening in a real sense. In peripheries, a large number of deliveries are conducted by ANMs, and nurses, and complications may arise occasionally. So what are the facilities expected and available at a sub-centre? In reality almost nothing is available. Merely having a ventilator does not solve the problem and is not enough . The hospital requires much more arrangements to keep a patient on ventilator. Do all Govt hospitals where surgeries are being done have ventilator and trained doctors and support staff to operate those ventilators? It needs round the clock trained doctors and nurses, ABG machine, portable X-ray , bed side Echo dialysis etc. Doctors in ill-equipped Govt centres are forced to conduct deliveries. What should be the SOP in such circumstances? A real and honest data would be an eye opener and interesting.
Doctor need to ponder over the issue of saving themselves before they save the patient.
Medical Negligence: Karnataka Court Convicts Three DoctorsFor Death Of Woman Operated Without Ventilator Facility & Other Life Saving Equipment* “A Judicial Magistrate First Class court in Bidar district of Karnataka recently convicted three doctors for causing the death of a woman who was operated on by them without having a ventilator facility in the hospital and other life saving equipment. BIDAR: Four people, including three doctors, have been handed jail terms and slapped with fines by a local court for a botched surgery which claimed the life of a woman.The II Civil (senior) and JMFC Court judge Abdul Khadar sentenced well-known medical practitioners Dr Rajshree Biradar and Dr Vaijinath Biradar, and Saibanna, to two years imprisonment and fined them Rs 10,000 each. If they fail to pay the fine, they will have to serve an additional six months in prison. Dr Rajshekar Patil was sentenced to six months imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000. He will have to serve additional imprisonment of one month if he fails to pay the fine.The case dates back to October 12, 2014, when Sampavati, wife of Ghaleppa Auradakar, got herself admitted to Sushrut Nursing Home in the city for a hysterectomy procedure. But after a five-hour surgery, she died due to alleged medical negligence.However, without disclosing her condition to the family, she was shifted to Dr Rajshekhar Patil’s Shree Hospital in an ambulance. Dr Patil continued the treatment without disclosing her condition, it was alleged in the chargesheet.
Nursing home was negligent in not having ventilator: Court
Later, it was revealed that Sampavati had died at Sushrut Nursing Home itself due to the lack of ventilator facility. The court, while convicting the accused, observed that the nursing home authorities were negligent in not having a ventilator facility for such a risky procedure.
Painful story of Dr Archana Sharma Suicide unmasks the everyday struggle of the doctors in present era. Although not ideal but being undervalued, dis-empowered and demonized, forced to work as sub-servant to bureaucrats are considered new normal and is an accepted form of harassment. Fatigue and burnout are thought to be routine side effects of being a doctor or nurse. Venomous media, celebrities, film stars and prominent personalities have left no stone unturned in spreading hatred and creating an environment of mistrust against the medical profession. They project single stray incident as an example and portray poor image of medical profession as generalization just to earn money and fame for themselves. Doctors have become prone to the verbal, physical as well as legal assaults. Dr Archana Suicide unmasked an organised crime and propagators were local goons, politicians and vulture journalist, who usually managed an orchestrated racket to blackmail the doctors and extort money. Doctors being soft targets because of their nature of work as they deal with life and death. Any death gives them opportunity to all to blackmail the doctors on the pretext of negligence, a legal weapon used by law-enforcers.
Dead doctor’s husband demands action against ‘vultures’ and ‘blackmailers’
JAIPUR: The husband of gynaecologist Dr Archana Sharma, who committed suicide on Tuesday, lodged an FIR against one Shiv Shankar Ballya Joshi for exerting pressure on the doctor and organising protests in her hospital. Hours before his transfer, Dausa SP Anil Kumar said police have seen the CCTV footage wherein Joshi was belting out abusive slogans against the doctor in the hospital. Police said they were investigating Joshi’s role in the case. The entire incident began when a 22-year-old woman was brought to Sharma’s Anand Hospital on Sunday night with labour pain. Though she was taken to the labour room, her condition deteriorated allegedly due to excessive bleeding and she died on Monday. On the same day, Dausa police registered an FIR under Section 302 (Murder) of the IPC which names Dr Archana Sharma and her husband Dr Suneet Upadhyay. The FIR put Rajasthan police in a tight spot because several doctors alleged that cops could have filed the FIR under Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC, instead of slapping murder charges on doctors. 4/1/22, 3:20 PM Rajasthan: Dead doctor’s husband demands action against ‘vultures’ and ‘blackmailers’. Kumar, however, said the police only registered the FIR on the basis of the complaint filed by the patient’s family. In an emotional video message, Dr Upadhyay alleged that Joshi had promised the family a hefty compensation and brought them back with the body to the hospital. “Joshi called other BJP leaders to the hospital too. Joshi has been trying extortion and blackmailing in the hospital,” he said, adding that the police have been shielding Joshi due to a senior BJP leader of Dausa. Sharma’s husband Dr Suneet Upadhyay in his FIR said that some “vultures” played politics on the patient’s body as they gheraoed the hospital and forced the local administration to file a case of murder against the doctor. Upadhyay alleged that Joshi played a key role in this entire affair. He has been accused in the FIR of threatening the hospital multiple times in the past. As per the FIR, many complaints were filed against Joshi at the police station, but cops took no action against him, which further emboldened the accused. Upadhyay said Joshi was hurling invectives during the protest at the hospital and his wife could not tolerate such insults because she was a reputed surgeon who had saved the lives of several women and children. He said she was stalked by fears that Joshi could send her to jail even though she was innocent. The complaint also mentions that Sharma read a report of the incident in a local newspaper, but there was no mention of the hospital’s version there.
According to Upadhyay, the family members of the deceased patient had returned from the hospital with complete satisfaction because they had witnessed the doctors struggling for nearly two hours to save her life. He said the family of the deceased patient were preparing for her last rites when Joshi stepped in and brought the body back to the hospital. Joshi allegedly called up people over the phone and gathered a large crowd at the hospital. He wanted to file a case of murder against the doctor even though the family of the patient had not given any complaint. The FIR states that vultures like them have made the lives of doctors in the country very difficult and told cops to act against such blackmailers. Dausa police said they have booked Joshi under Section 306 (abetment of suicide), 304 (extortion) and 384 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life, etc) of the IPC. Police said Joshi is a local leader, whereas, they are probing the journalist’s involvement.
While doctors are usually blamed for any mishap, be it natural poor prognosis or genuine complications, rarely people get to know their side of the story — how a dying patient affects their psyche, how they deal with these patients and their kith and kin, what are the kinds of abuse and threats made when they are not able to save a life despite their best efforts. Book describes stories the blackmail doctors face from opportunist goons, legal industry and vulture kind of journalism. Every day blackmail by legal industry, journalist and local goons, similar to what Dr Archana Sharma went through and others doctors are facing have been described.
Dr Pankaj Kumar, Director Critical Care at a Delhi Hospital, India has come out with an insightful account of these very aspects of a doctor’s life.
The 300-page book (English) contains 20 stories divided into three parts viz – Larva & Pupa Syndrome, Hope & Fear & Medical Lawsuits. The book is available worldwide on Kindle Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Tolino, Kobo, Scibd, BorrowBox, Baker & Taylor , Vivilo, Overdrive etc.
His book ‘At the Horizon of Life & Death’ is a Reality Fiction that reflects the sensitivity involved in dealing with patients facing death.
Through the eyes of its protagonist Dr Anand, the book captures significant moments in the treatment trajectory of critical patients. The book tries to create awareness regarding pertinent issues faced by the medical professionals like demoralisation, expensive medical education, the extreme pressure and suicidal ideation, the plight of the nurses and support staff, assaults and violence and the medico-legal intricacies involved in day-to-day practice among others. The author has also taken care to guide aspiring doctors to make well-informed career decisions.
Part One (Larva & Pupa Syndrome)- talks about the expensive medical education, and the issues students face in medical college.
Part Two (Hope & Fears) talks about the beginning of doctors’ professional journey, the disease demons they face while dealing with critical patients, dilemmas of doctors and patients near death situations.
Part Three (Medical Lawsuits) is about how doctors are always working under the threat of medico-legal lawsuits.
While stories are fictional, the scenarios and the problems in them are very real — things that he faced or saw his colleagues facing.
Medical profession has become victim of mistrust generation and blame culture. Everyone keeps harping about the few black sheep in the community, while larger good work of doctors is not highlighted enough.
The stories span from Dr Anand’s initial days in the emergency room and capture his struggles in complex medico-legal scenarios over the next four decades. This book is an effort to bring back focus on the treatment of the patient as opposed to the mistrust, legal frameworks and policies surrounding the healthcare practice.
Suicide by Dr Archana Sharma has exposed the blackmail; medical professionals are going through in current era. Doctors have become sitting ducks for punishments complaints, blackmail, and legal complexities besides every day harassment. Negligent police, indifference of Government and venomous media has made it impossible for health care workers to work in a peaceful environment. It may not be a good idea to opt for a medical career any more.
More naïve would be to pay millions to be a doctor.
Suicide by Dr Archana Sharma has exposed the blackmail; medical professionals are going through in current era. Doctors have become sitting ducks for punishments complaints, blackmail, and legal complexities besides every day harassment. Negligent police, indifference of Government and venomous media has made it impossible for health care workers to work in a peaceful environment. It may not be a good idea to opt for a medical career any more. In the present circumstances, when doctors themselves are doubtful about the advice for choosing medical career, some are naïve enough to spend millions on securing an expensive medical college seat. Problems faced by doctors are not only innumerable but are also so exceedingly complex that they are difficult to be analysed. Doctors feel so disgusted about the entire system that they do not encourage their children to take up this profession which until now was one of the coveted ones, there must be something going terribly wrong with the profession.
More naïve would be to pay millions to be a doctor.
Stark reality of complex medical scenario hits the studious and meritorious medical students on the face when they come out of college and start working in present environment. After a difficult time at medical college with slave like duties, an unsettled family life and with no money, these brilliant doctors begin their struggle. They work at various hospitals to gain more experience and slowly acclimatize themselves to the real problems of this profession. They realize that the actual medical world is far different than what was apparent from inside the medical college. Suddenly they find that their lives undergo a sea change. The goals that were taught in the medical college are now just not enough and they actually constitute only smaller part of a much larger system. And the scenario seems to getting worse for doctors with each passing day. There is increasing discontentment amongst doctors because of complex and punishing system in addition to the unrealistic expectations of society which takes the enthusiasm out of these young bright doctors. Every day now, the informal discussions with colleagues regularly dwell more on problems faced by doctors, rather than real goals. There are routinely instances of verbal abuse and threat for no fault of theirs. Some unlucky ones get physically assaulted as well. Sometimes there are threats of dragging the doctor into a lawsuit which sometimes do really happen. Even if court, after years of deliberation, does decide in favour of the doctor, the harm to the doctor in the form of mental harassment and tarnished reputation is already done and that is something which cannot be undone even after he has been proved innocent. Even if such events don’t happen to everyone, the very fear of such possible scenarios and their possible complications always lurks in the back of the mind and affects the treatment because the doctor tries to be doubly safe. The fear and anxiety about the actual treatment, favourable and unfavourable prognosis of patient always colours the final decision in treatment. Many become punching bags in place of inept medical system and invisible medical industry. Everyday irritating discussions, arguments, complaints, disagreements add to further pain and discontentment. And if these were not enough, these problems have been further compounded by unnecessary utterances by celebrities against doctors, negative projections by media who never acknowledge the great work done day and night by doctors. Stray mistakes by some doctor, or treatment failure due to a poor prognosis and sometimes due to system failure are projected and widely highlighted by media and celebrities to tarnish image of all doctors .Though these do sensationalise their news and promotes their business, but the repercussions are heavy and it breaks the trust of the public in their doctors. This eventually does harm to innocent public in the long run but has also done enough irreparable damage to the medical profession. If children of current generation do not hold the profession in high esteem, then obviously they wouldn’t want to be part of this profession. And if brilliant students shun this profession, then how would society get good doctors? If there is always fear in their mind, no one can do justice to his job and this you’ll all agree, applies to all professions
Working of a doctor and nurses is not free from risk to themselves which can be verbal, physical as well as legal assaults. Everyday globally, the doctors and the nurses greet the new day and return to their work of taking care of their patients, knowing well the risk involved. None of the doctors can guess which one fine morning becomes a harbinger to their doomsday, especially when serving an anarchic and hostile society. No doctor can anticipate which one patient can cause deadly harm to health care workers, while trying to save the one. Unfortunate incident of PPH (Post-partum Bleeding – a natural complication of pregnancy) and subsequent agitation by mob and over-reactive FIR by hostile Police was enough for a brilliant Obstetrician to commit suicide in Jaipur. Possibly doctors are not assured of getting justice anymore from our system.
Jaipur- A woman doctor booked for death of a pregnant woman in Rajasthan committed suicide
Jaipur, Mar 29 (PTI) A woman doctor, who was booked for allegedly causing the death of a pregnant woman at a private facility in Rajasthan’s Dausa district, committed suicide on Tuesday, police said. Jaipur, Mar 29 (PTI) A woman doctor, who was booked for allegedly causing the death of a pregnant woman at a private facility in Rajasthan’s Dausa district, committed suicide on Tuesday, police said. Jaipur, Mar 29 (PTI) A woman doctor, who was booked for allegedly causing the death of a pregnant woman at a private facility in Rajasthan’s Dausa district, committed suicide on Tuesday, police said. According to police, the pregnant woman died at the hospital run by Dr Archana Sharma and her husband on Tuesday. An FIR was registered against Archana at the Lalsot Police Station after family members of the pregnant woman held a demonstration outside the hospital and demanded immediate action against the erring doctor. Stressed over the FIR, Archana hanged herself to death, police said. “The doctor was booked for the death of the pregnant woman due to negligence in treatment. Today afternoon, the doctor hanged herself to death at her residence above the hospital,” Additional SP (Dausa) Lal Chand Kayal said.
The risk is generally underestimated, although often it may be major risk to life. Majority of people, society and governing bodies and even doctors themselves do not perceive or acknowledge the possible harms to health care workers in present era. But since these risks are increasing exponentially, they should be known to students, who want to take medicine as a profession. There are lesser set procedures, lack of awareness, not protective equipment or hostile society, lack of governance and laws and doctors continue to work in dangerous environment.
Doctors have become punching bags for all the malaise prevalent in the system. A failing system which is unable to provide health to the people and security to doctors. The rickety system hides behind their hard working doctors and presents them as punching bags. The impunity with which attendant easily and brutally assault doctors is really appalling, should be shameful to law enforcing agencies.
Role of media, celebrities, film stars and prominent personalities in spreading the hatred against the medical profession and creating an environment of mistrust is unpardonable. They project single stray incident as an example and portray poor image of medical profession as generalization just to earn money and fame for themselves. Doctors need to be careful and remain careful about saving themselves from verbal, physical as well as legal assaults.
Doctor- ‘save the patient but to save themselves also’.
In present era, most of the time, a lenient view is taken against assault of doctors on the grounds of emotional circumstances of relatives and sympathy towards patients, even in cases of blatant injustice imparted towards doctors and nurses. Not infrequently, assaults of doctors are taken as routine incidents committed under disguise of perceived negligence and sympathy towards patients. The culprits are able to commonly get away with it.
But this businessman who abused a lady doctor has not been proved to be lucky, at least till this time. He was handed over a jail term of 6 months. Rightly so, courts need to aim at imparting justice and not judge on the basis of projected disturbed emotional state.
Doctors have become punching bags for all the malaise prevalent in the system. A failing system which is unable to provide health to the people and security to doctors. The rickety system hides behind their hard working doctors and presents them as punching bags. The impunity with which attendant easily and brutally assault doctors is really appalling, should be shameful to law enforcing agencies.
Man gets six-month jail for abusing lady doctor
Role of media, celebrities, film stars and prominent personalities in spreading the hatred against the medical profession and creating an environment of mistrust is unpardonable. They project single stray incident as an example and portray poor image of medical profession as generalization just to earn money and fame for themselves. Doctors need to be careful and remain careful about saving themselves from verbal, physical as well as legal assaults.
The incident had taken place on 23 Nov 2017 when Rohinton Umarigar, who was at the Parsi General Hospital for his mother’s treatment used abusive language with the woman doctor who was in charge of the ICU
A Girgaum magistrate court refused leniency to a 52-year-old who used foul language with a woman doctor in 2017 and sentenced him to six months of simple imprisonment. It stated that unwarranted leniency to him would send a wrong signal to society and that he had used unparliamentary language to insult the dignity of a woman.
The incident had taken place on November 23, 2017, when the man, Rohington Umarigar, was at the Parsi General Hospital where his mother was undergoing treatment. He used abusive language with the woman doctor who was in charge of the ICU.
The Nepean Sea Road resident had sought leniency and requested that the court release him by imposing a minimum fine and on a bond of good behaviour. He told the court that he was the only breadwinner of his family. Umarigar’s advocate told the court that the incident occurred at the spur of the moment when his mother was ill. The court said the punishment under Sec 509 of the IPC (word, gesture, act intended to outrage modesty of a woman) was enhanced by the legislation in 2013 looking at the time and seriousness of offences committed against the modesty of women. The court noted that Umarigar had misbehaved a second time with the doctor, which means it was intentional.
“Whenever such type of offence is committed against women, it is against their right to sexual integrity, dignity. It is linked to their right to privacy…in the present matter also, the accused has used unparliamentary words to insult the dignity of woman. He is in his 50s and knows the consequences of his act,” Magistrate Nadeem A Patel said. The court further said that while enhancing the punishment, it was the intention of the legislature to penalize the offence of outraging a woman’s dignity, either physically or verbally. Therefore, in such cases, unwarranted leniency shown will send a wrong message to society. It also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on the man.
The man had claimed that he had made a complaint to the hospital management against the doctor for negligence and that this was a counter-complaint. The court refused to accept this defence. It said that even for the sake of argument if it were to be assumed that she had been negligent in her own duty, it did not give him the right to abuse a lady doctor. It relied on the testimony of the victim, as well as her three colleagues at the hospital who testified about the incident.
Doctors are just as offshoots of a tree called as society. They essentially are the same as rest of the society. It is a specialized branch of tree which helps other offshoots of tree to save others. As part of same tree, they resemble the parent society, of which they are part. Society needs to choose and nurture a force of doctors carefully with an aim to combat for safety of its own people.
Apple tree will have apples and musk melons plant will grow muskmelons only. One should not expect apples to grow on muskmelon stem. If society has failed to demand for a good and robust system, failed to save them, it should not rue scarcity of good doctors. Merit based cheap good medical education system is the need of the society. This is in interest of society to nurture good doctors for its own safety.
Therefore the quality of doctors who survive and flourish in such system will be a natural consequence of how society chooses and nurtures the best for themselves.
Imagine, an opportunity is available to a patient, to decide the doctor as based on his route or marks for entry into medical college. Whether patient will like to get treated by a doctor, who secured 20% marks, 30 % marks or 60% marks or 80% marks for medical college. Even an illiterate person can answer that well. But strangely for selection of doctors, rules were framed so as to dilute the merit to the minimum possible. So that a candidate who scores 15-20 % marks also becomes eligible to become a doctor. What is the need to dilute and shortlist around half a million for few thousand seats? Answer to that is simple. To select and find only those students from millions, who can pay millions to become doctors?
If the society continues to accept such below par practices, it has to introspect, whether it actually deserves to get good doctors. Paying the irrational fee of medical colleges may be unwise idea for the candidates, who are not from strong financial backgrounds. But at the same time unfortunately, it may be a compulsion and entrapment for students, who have entered the profession and there is no way forward. So children have to be careful while choosing medical careers from the beginning.
MUMBAI: MBBS aspirants who missed out in the initial rounds of seat allotment and pinned their hopes on vacant NRI quota seats have been bested by students at the tail end of the NEET qualifying list helped by NRI sponsors. Overnight, close to 152 aspirants, many of them with ranks in six digits, have submitted documents, including a certificate from the consulate concerned, to prove that their education will be sponsored by an Indian based abroad. Aspirants with much higher scores, who were banking on the addition of vacant NRI seats to the relatively cheaper management quota — the fee differential can be as much as Rs 25 lakh-35 lakh — have been done in by a minor clause in the fingerprint. A medical college in Maharashtra has, in fact, already allotted a seat to a NEET qualifier placed 267th from the bottom in a list stretching into several lakhs. When registration for the all-India mop-up round began on March 10, several Indian candidates had applied to convert to NRI status. The medical counselling committee gave such students time from noon on March 11 to 6pm the next day to change their nationality from Indian to NRI. However, candidates wrote to the NMC asking for their nationality to be converted in the last leg of the admission process, presumably after all other options to secure a seat had been exhausted. “The NMC was forced to open that window. According to a 2017 Supreme Court judgment, a candidate can change his or her nationality at any point,” said Dr Pravin Shingare, former head of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research. NRI seats, which cost Rs 40 lakh-60 lakh per year — 4-5 times more than those in the management quota — and had no takers until last week, were now suddenly in demand and filled by candidates with rock-bottom scores. At Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences, Loni (Maharashtra), the last management seat was filled by rank 83,817 while the last NRI seat went to rank 8,72,911. At Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Kolar, the last management seat was allotted to rank 86,416 and its last NRI seat to rank 8,76,357. This scenario has played out in medical institutes across the country. Rank holder 71,474 had named MGM College as his first choice in the mop-up round. He didn’t get a seat, but a candidate more than 8 lakh ranks below at 8,73,286 has got lucky, thanks to the clause which allows a student to abruptly change his/her nationality in the midst of the admission process. Hence, of the 19 vacant NRI seats at MGM that should have been converted to the general category, according to the NMC notification, not a single one eventually remained vacant.
Our society fails to develops a robust system of choosing and nurturing good doctors and therefore itself responsible for decline in standards of medical profession. A famous axiom “as you sow so shall you reap” has an application to health system, Government and Public as well in this scenario, so people should not rue scarcity of good doctors.
Overplayed narrative of fewer doctors in the country, rather than a system for proper utilization is an effort to increase numbers of doctors. But this goal needs to be achieved with preserving quality of medical education. Almost all efforts to increase the number of doctors are associated on dilution of merit. Selling the medical seats is heading towards bubble burst, when despite declining demand for poor quality and expensive medical education, new private colleges being approved along with lowering merit to a dismal percentage.
Future doctors getting admissions by scoring just 10-20 percent of marks, poor teacher student ratio, seats being awarded to highest bidder are few pointers to the poor quality of medical education. Few years back NEET percent system was changed to percentile and now the bar is lowered further, just to accommodate more ‘bidders’ with less marks, to be able to buy medical seats.
This potpourri portends to be a travesty of quality, not just of medical education but more seriously, of the quality of doctors. Allotment of medical seats is being left to the vagaries of populism and commercialism, through a false sense ‘the illusion of merit’ secured via NEET. Admission criteria whittled down to mere 10-20 percent, will result in an irreversible and regressive compromise with quality of doctors. Will patients approve such dizzying choice and at what cost?
Going by selection of candidates as doctors, if given a choice, by which a patient will like to get treated? A candidate who scored 20 % marks or a person getting 60% or 80% marks. NEET eligibility getting lower and a candidate getting around 20 % of marks may be able to secure a degree to treat patients. What will be the deciding factor? The criteria as to why a person with 60% marks not getting a seat and another with 20% marks will be able to secure. It will depend upon, whether a candidate is able to pay the exorbitant fee or not. Present system and mechanism of admission permit and accept such huge variation! That strange equation is acceptable in lieu of money paid!
In a move that is likely to boost uptake in vacant post-graduate medical seats and also improve availability of specialists in future, the health ministry has slashed the cutoff for NEET-PG 2021 by 15 percentile across all categories. The ministry issued a letter to the National Medical Commission on Saturday giving a go-ahead to the proposal. The revised qualifying cutoff now stands at 35 percentile for the general category, 30 percentile for persons with disabilities (PwD) general, 25 for SC/ST and OBC and 25 for PwD (SC/ST/OBC), the letter said. The reduction in the cut off percentile is expected to allow more MBBS passouts to apply for post-graduate courses, an official said. “The move aims to prevent seat wastage. With this reduction in percentile, approximately 25,000 fresh candidates can participate in the mop-up round of the ongoing counselling,” a ministry official said. Nearly 8,000 post-graduate seats are still vacant despite two rounds each of all India and state counselling. “After due discussion and deliberations, it has been decided by the health ministry in consultation with NMC to reduce the cut off by 15 percentile across all categories…” medical counselling committee member-secretary wrote in a letter to National Board of Examinations executive director . TOI has reviewed the letters. The move is also expected to fill a serious gap in the availability of specialists. There remains a severe shortfall of over 76% in terms of specialists like surgeons, gynaecologists, physicians and paediatricians at community health centres. Against the requirement for existing infrastructure, there is a shortfall of 78.9% surgeons, 69.7% obstetricians & gynaecologists, 78.2% physicians and 78.2% paediatricians. The Centre has further directed NBE to declare the revised results and send data of the newly eligible candidates to the counselling committee
High blood pressure (hypertension) is a common condition in which the long-term force of the blood against your artery walls is high enough that it may eventually cause health problems, such as heart disease.
Blood pressure is determined both by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure. A blood pressure reading is given in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). It has two numbers.
Top number (systolic pressure). The first, or upper, number measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats.
Bottom number (diastolic pressure). The second, or lower, number measures the pressure in your arteries between beats.
You can have high blood pressure for years without any symptoms. Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases your risk of serious health problems, including heart attack and stroke. Fortunately, high blood pressure can be easily detected. And once you know you have high blood pressure, you can work with your doctor to control it.
Most people with high blood pressure have no signs or symptoms, even if blood pressure readings reach dangerously high levels.
A few people with high blood pressure may have headaches, shortness of breath or nosebleeds, but these signs and symptoms aren’t specific and usually don’t occur until high blood pressure has reached a severe or life-threatening stage.
When to see a doctor
You’ll likely have your blood pressure taken as part of a routine doctor’s appointment.
Ask your doctor for a blood pressure reading at least every two years starting at age 18. If you’re age 40 or older, or you’re 18 to 39 with a high risk of high blood pressure, ask your doctor for a blood pressure reading every year.
Blood pressure generally should be checked in both arms to determine if there’s a difference. It’s important to use an appropriate-sized arm cuff.
Your doctor will likely recommend more-frequent readings if you’ve already been diagnosed with high blood pressure or have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Children age 3 and older will usually have blood pressure measured as a part of their yearly checkups.
If you don’t regularly see your doctor, you may be able to get a free blood pressure screening at a health resource fair or other locations in your community. You can also find machines in some stores that will measure your blood pressure for free.
Public blood pressure machines, such as those found in pharmacies, may provide helpful information about your blood pressure, but they may have some limitations. The accuracy of these machines depends on several factors, such as a correct cuff size and proper use of the machines. Ask your doctor for advice on using public blood pressure machines.
For most adults, there’s no identifiable cause of high blood pressure. This type of high blood pressure, called primary (essential) hypertension, tends to develop gradually over many years.
Secondary hypertension
Some people have high blood pressure caused by an underlying condition. This type of high blood pressure, called secondary hypertension, tends to appear suddenly and cause higher blood pressure than does primary hypertension. Various conditions and medications can lead to secondary hypertension, including:
Obstructive sleep apnea
Kidney disease
Adrenal gland tumors
Thyroid problems
Certain defects you’re born with (congenital) in blood vessels
Certain medications, such as birth control pills, cold remedies, decongestants, over-the-counter pain relievers and some prescription drugs
Illegal drugs, such as cocaine and amphetamines
Risk factors
High blood pressure has many risk factors, including:
Age. The risk of high blood pressure increases as you age. Until about age 64, high blood pressure is more common in men. Women are more likely to develop high blood pressure after age 65.
Race. High blood pressure is particularly common among people of African heritage, often developing at an earlier age than it does in whites. Serious complications, such as stroke, heart attack and kidney failure, also are more common in people of African heritage.
Family history. High blood pressure tends to run in families.
Being overweight or obese. The more you weigh, the more blood you need to supply oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. As the amount of blood flow through your blood vessels increases, so does the pressure on your artery walls.
Not being physically active. People who are inactive tend to have higher heart rates. The higher your heart rate, the harder your heart must work with each contraction and the stronger the force on your arteries. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of being overweight.
Using tobacco. Not only does smoking or chewing tobacco immediately raise your blood pressure temporarily, but the chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of your artery walls. This can cause your arteries to narrow and increase your risk of heart disease. Secondhand smoke also can increase your heart disease risk.
Too much salt (sodium) in your diet. Too much sodium in your diet can cause your body to retain fluid, which increases blood pressure.
Too little potassium in your diet. Potassium helps balance the amount of sodium in your cells. A proper balance of potassium is critical for good heart health. If you don’t get enough potassium in your diet, or you lose too much potassium due to dehydration or other health conditions, sodium can build up in your blood.
Drinking too much alcohol. Over time, heavy drinking can damage your heart. Having more than one drink a day for women and more than two drinks a day for men may affect your blood pressure.
If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. For healthy adults, that means up to one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men. One drink equals 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor.
Stress. High levels of stress can lead to a temporary increase in blood pressure. Stress-related habits such as eating more, using tobacco or drinking alcohol can lead to further increases in blood pressure.
Certain chronic conditions. Certain chronic conditions also may increase your risk of high blood pressure, including kidney disease, diabetes and sleep apnea.
Sometimes pregnancy contributes to high blood pressure as well.
Although high blood pressure is most common in adults, children may be at risk, too. For some children, high blood pressure is caused by problems with the kidneys or heart. But for a growing number of kids, poor lifestyle habits — such as an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise — contribute to high blood pressure.
The excessive pressure on your artery walls caused by high blood pressure can damage your blood vessels as well as your organs. The higher your blood pressure and the longer it goes uncontrolled, the greater the damage.
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to complications including:
Heart attack or stroke. High blood pressure can cause hardening and thickening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which can lead to a heart attack, stroke or other complications.
Aneurysm. Increased blood pressure can cause your blood vessels to weaken and bulge, forming an aneurysm. If an aneurysm ruptures, it can be life-threatening.
Heart failure. To pump blood against the higher pressure in your vessels, the heart has to work harder. This causes the walls of the heart’s pumping chamber to thicken (left ventricular hypertrophy). Eventually, the thickened muscle may have a hard time pumping enough blood to meet your body’s needs, which can lead to heart failure.
Weakened and narrowed blood vessels in your kidneys. This can prevent these organs from functioning normally.
Thickened, narrowed or torn blood vessels in the eyes. This can result in vision loss.
Metabolic syndrome. This syndrome is a group of disorders of your body’s metabolism, including increased waist size, high triglycerides, decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol), high blood pressure and high insulin levels. These conditions make you more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
Trouble with memory or understanding. Uncontrolled high blood pressure may also affect your ability to think, remember and learn. Trouble with memory or understanding concepts is more common in people with high blood pressure.
Dementia. Narrowed or blocked arteries can limit blood flow to the brain, leading to a certain type of dementia (vascular dementia). A stroke that interrupts blood flow to the brain also can cause vascular dementia.
Diagnosis
Blood pressure measurement
Your doctor will ask questions about your medical history and do a physical examination. The doctor, nurse or other medical assistant will place an inflatable arm cuff around your arm and measure your blood pressure using a pressure-measuring gauge.
Your blood pressure generally should be measured in both arms to determine if there is a difference. It’s important to use an appropriate-sized arm cuff.
Blood pressure measurements fall into several categories:
Normal blood pressure. Your blood pressure is normal if it’s below 120/80 mm Hg.
Elevated blood pressure. Elevated blood pressure is a systolic pressure ranging from 120 to 129 mm Hg and a diastolic pressure below (not above) 80 mm Hg. Elevated blood pressure tends to get worse over time unless steps are taken to control blood pressure. Elevated blood pressure may also be called prehypertension.
Stage 1 hypertension. Stage 1 hypertension is a systolic pressure ranging from 130 to 139 mm Hg or a diastolic pressure ranging from 80 to 89 mm Hg.
Stage 2 hypertension. More-severe hypertension, stage 2 hypertension is a systolic pressure of 140 mm Hg or higher or a diastolic pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher.
Hypertensive crisis. A blood pressure measurement higher than 180/120 mm Hg is an emergency situation that requires urgent medical care. If you get this result when you take your blood pressure at home, wait five minutes and retest. If your blood pressure is still this high, contact your doctor immediately. If you also have chest pain, vision problems, numbness or weakness, breathing difficulty, or any other signs and symptoms of a stroke or heart attack, call local emergency medical number.
Both numbers in a blood pressure reading are important. But after age 50, the systolic reading is even more important. Isolated systolic hypertension is a condition in which the diastolic pressure is normal (less than 80 mm Hg) but systolic pressure is high (greater than or equal to 130 mm Hg). This is a common type of high blood pressure among people older than 65.
Because blood pressure normally varies during the day and may increase during a doctor visit (white coat hypertension), your doctor will likely take several blood pressure readings at three or more separate appointments before diagnosing you with high blood pressure.
Microsoft Corp. said Zain Nadella, son of Chief Executive Officer Satya and his wife Anu, died Monday morning. He was 26 years old and had been born with cerebral palsy. The software maker told its executive staff in an email that Zain had passed away. The message asked executives to hold the family in their thoughts and prayers while giving them space to grieve privately.
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect movement and muscle tone or posture. It’s caused by damage that occurs to the immature, developing brain, most often before birth.
Signs and symptoms appear during infancy or preschool years. In general, cerebral palsy causes impaired movement associated with exaggerated reflexes, floppiness or spasticity of the limbs and trunk, unusual posture, involuntary movements, unsteady walking, or some combination of these.
People with cerebral palsy can have problems swallowing and commonly have eye muscle imbalance, in which the eyes don’t focus on the same object. They also might have reduced range of motion at various joints of their bodies due to muscle stiffness.
The cause of cerebral palsy and its effect on function vary greatly. Some people with cerebral palsy can walk; others need assistance. Some people have intellectual disabilities, but others do not. Epilepsy, blindness or deafness also might be present. Cerebral palsy is a lifelong disorder. There is no cure, but treatments can help improve function.
Signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy can vary greatly from person to person. Cerebral palsy can affect the whole body, or it might be limited primarily to one or two limbs, or one side of the body. Generally, signs and symptoms include problems with movement and coordination, speech and eating, development, and other problems.
Movement and coordination
Stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes (spasticity), the most common movement disorder
Variations in muscle tone, such as being either too stiff or too floppy
Stiff muscles with normal reflexes (rigidity)
Lack of balance and muscle coordination (ataxia)
Tremors or jerky involuntary movements
Slow, writhing movements
Favoring one side of the body, such as only reaching with one hand or dragging a leg while crawling
Difficulty walking, such as walking on toes, a crouched gait, a scissors-like gait with knees crossing, a wide gait or an asymmetrical gait
Difficulty with fine motor skills, such as buttoning clothes or picking up utensils
Speech and eating
Delays in speech development
Difficulty speaking
Difficulty with sucking, chewing or eating
Excessive drooling or problems with swallowing
Development
Delays in reaching motor skills milestones, such as sitting up or crawling
Learning difficulties
Intellectual disabilities
Delayed growth, resulting in smaller size than would be expected
Other problems
Damage to the brain can contribute to other neurological problems, such as:
Seizures (epilepsy)
Difficulty hearing
Problems with vision and abnormal eye movements
Abnormal touch or pain sensations
Bladder and bowel problems, including constipation and urinary incontinence
Mental health conditions, such as emotional disorders and behavioral problems
The brain disorder causing cerebral palsy doesn’t change with time, so the symptoms usually don’t worsen with age. However, as the child gets older, some symptoms might become more or less apparent. And muscle shortening and muscle rigidity can worsen if not treated aggressively.
When to see a doctor
It’s important to get a prompt diagnosis for a movement disorder or delays in your child’s development. See your child’s doctor if you have concerns about episodes of loss of awareness of surroundings or of unusual bodily movements or muscle tone, impaired coordination, swallowing difficulties, eye muscle imbalance, or other developmental issues.
Cerebral palsy is caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain. This usually happens before a child is born, but it can occur at birth or in early infancy. In many cases, the cause isn’t known. Many factors can lead to problems with brain development. Some include:
Gene mutations that result in genetic disorders or differences in brain development
Maternal infections that affect the developing fetus
Fetal stroke, a disruption of blood supply to the developing brain
Bleeding into the brain in the womb or as a newborn
Infant infections that cause inflammation in or around the brain
Traumatic head injury to an infant, such as from a motor vehicle accident, fall or physical abuse
Lack of oxygen to the brain related to difficult labor or delivery, although birth-related asphyxia is much less commonly a cause than historically thought
Risk factors
A number of factors are associated with an increased risk of cerebral palsy.
Maternal health
Certain infections or toxic exposures during pregnancy can significantly increase cerebral palsy risk to the baby. Inflammation triggered by infection or fever can damage the unborn baby’s developing brain.
Cytomegalovirus. This common virus causes flu-like symptoms and can lead to birth defects if a mother has her first active infection during pregnancy.
German measles (rubella). This viral infection can be prevented with a vaccine.
Herpes. This infection can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy, affecting the womb and placenta.
Syphilis. This is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection.
Toxoplasmosis. This infection is caused by a parasite found in contaminated food, soil and the feces of infected cats.
Zika virus infection. This infection is spread through mosquito bites and can affect fetal brain development.
Intrauterine infections. This includes infections of the placenta or fetal membranes.
Exposure to toxins. One example is exposure to methyl mercury.
Other conditions. Other conditions affecting the mother that can slightly increase the risk of cerebral palsy include thyroid problems, preeclampsia or seizures.
Infant illness
Illnesses in a newborn baby that can greatly increase the risk of cerebral palsy include:
Bacterial meningitis. This bacterial infection causes inflammation in the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
Viral encephalitis. This viral infection similarly causes inflammation in the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
Severe or untreated jaundice. Jaundice appears as a yellowing of the skin. The condition occurs when certain byproducts of “used” blood cells aren’t filtered from the bloodstream.
Bleeding into the brain. This condition is commonly caused by the baby having a stroke in the womb or in early infancy.
Factors of pregnancy and birth
While the potential contribution from each is limited, additional pregnancy or birth factors associated with increased cerebral palsy risk include:
Low birth weight. Babies who weigh less than 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) are at higher risk of developing cerebral palsy. This risk increases as birth weight drops.
Multiple babies. Cerebral palsy risk increases with the number of babies sharing the uterus. The risk also can be related to the likelihood of premature birth and low birth weight. If one or more of the babies die, the survivors’ risk of cerebral palsy increases.
Premature birth. Babies born prematurely are at higher risk of cerebral palsy. The earlier a baby is born, the greater the cerebral palsy risk.
Delivery complications. Problems during labor and delivery may increase the risk of cerebral palsy.
Complications
Muscle weakness, muscle spasticity and coordination problems can contribute to a number of complications either during childhood or in adulthood, including:
Contracture. Contracture is muscle tissue shortening due to severe muscle tightening that can be the result of spasticity. Contracture can inhibit bone growth, cause bones to bend, and result in joint deformities, dislocation or partial dislocation. These can include hip dislocation, curvature of the spine (scoliosis) and other orthopedic deformities.
Malnutrition. Swallowing or feeding problems can make it difficult for someone who has cerebral palsy, particularly an infant, to get enough nutrition. This can impair growth and weaken bones. Some children or adults need a feeding tube to get enough nutrition.
Mental health conditions. People with cerebral palsy might have mental health conditions, such as depression. Social isolation and the challenges of coping with disabilities can contribute to depression. Behavioral problems can also occur.
Heart and lung disease. People with cerebral palsy may develop heart disease, lung disease and breathing disorders. Problems with swallowing can result in respiratory problems, such as aspiration pneumonia.
Osteoarthritis. Pressure on joints or abnormal alignment of joints from muscle spasticity may lead to the early onset of this painful degenerative bone disease.
Osteoporosis. Fractures due to low bone density can result from several factors such as lack of mobility, inadequate nutrition and anti-epileptic drug use.
Other complications. These can include sleep disorders, chronic pain, skin breakdown, intestinal problems and issues with oral health.
Prevention
Most cases of cerebral palsy can’t be prevented, but you can reduce risks. If you’re pregnant or planning to become pregnant, you can take these steps to keep healthy and minimize pregnancy complications:
Make sure you’re vaccinated. Getting vaccinated against diseases such as rubella, preferably before getting pregnant, might prevent an infection that could cause fetal brain damage.
Take care of yourself. The healthier you are heading into a pregnancy, the less likely you’ll be to develop an infection that results in cerebral palsy.
Seek early and continuous prenatal care. Regular visits to your doctor during your pregnancy are a good way to reduce health risks to you and your unborn baby. Seeing your doctor regularly can help prevent premature birth, low birth weight and infections.
Avoid alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs. These have been linked to cerebral palsy risk.
Rarely, cerebral palsy can be caused by brain damage that occurs in childhood. Practice good general safety. Prevent head injuries by providing your child with a car seat, bicycle helmet, safety rails on the bed and appropriate supervision.
Evolution of Medical profession-Extinction of good doctors 