Category: Doc save yourself

Exploitation   of Medical professionals fuelling Doctors’ revolt

The painful incident of Dr Archana Sharma’s Suicide (one year back) had unmasked the everyday struggle of the doctors in the present era. Her supreme sacrifice depicted the plight of doctors- being undervalued and demonized, forced to work as a sub-servant to bureaucrats, irresponsible policing, blackmail by goons and vulture journalism-all have become an accepted form of harassment. Her suicide has unveiled the despondency, moral burden of mistrust that doctors carry. Her death was the result of the apathy of fair justice that eludes medical community. Sadly, the society still is unable to realize its loss. Let her sacrifice be a reminder to the whole medical fraternity; either fight against the prevalent injustice or perish, not being able to treat the patients would be a greater disservice to humanity. Such incidents show that goons, public, regulators and administrators can use the nature of doctors’ work to be used against medical profession to make saviours as an easy prey for punishments on the pretext of dishonesty, negligence or semantics being used as legal weapons by law-enforcers, even in case of a perceived bias. In the process of such ‘tokenism’ goons and administrators prove their relevance to the medical system.

    The painful incident of Dr Archana Sharma’s Suicide (one year back) had unmasked the everyday struggle of the doctors in the present era. Her supreme sacrifice depicted the plight of doctors- being undervalued and demonized, forced to work as a sub-servant to bureaucrats, irresponsible policing, blackmail by goons and vulture journalism-all have become an accepted form of harassment.  Her suicide has unveiled the despondency, moral burden of mistrust that doctors carry. Her death was the result of the apathy of fair justice that eludes medical community. Sadly, the society still is unable to realize its loss.

      Let her sacrifice be a reminder to the whole medical fraternity; either fight against the prevalent injustice or perish, not being able to treat the patients would be a greater disservice to humanity.

      Such incidents  show that goons, public, regulators and administrators  can use the nature of doctors’ work to be  used against medical profession to make saviours as an  easy prey for  punishments   on the pretext of  dishonesty, negligence or semantics being used  as  legal weapons by law-enforcers, even in case of a perceived bias. In the process of such ‘tokenism’ goons and administrators prove their relevance to the  medical system.

   Private health care has become a predominant mode of health care delivery. The failure of public sector is mainly due to poor infrastructure and inept health management. Sadly health is being managed by administrators, who have never treated a patient in life-time. Inadequacy of public sector stems from the government inability to take responsibility of delivering quality accessible healthcare. This has added to the distress and has accelerated privatisation of health care.

    Instead of making the process of opening a health care centre or hospital an   easier process, it has been made a herculean task. Getting many dozens of licences is not easy. Doctors who try to open hospitals complain about numerous hurdles, but possibly are left with no option. It is still easier for big hospitals with investors’ money but difficult for doctors on their own. Running the hospital is no more an easy task due to bureaucratic and public pressures.

   Private health sector especially smaller hospitals feel burdened by government schemes because of unrealistically low reimbursement rates for surgeries or procedures. Not only unreasonably low reimbursement payments are forced upon doctors but are delayed due to many unpleasant factors in government system. 

     There is no protection to doctors  against physical assaults. Local goons and mobs easily get away with abusing and attacking doctors. The health care workers have become scapegoats for the inadequate and inept medical system.

Rather than   developing a system to promote   good doctor-patient relationship, Medical Consumer Protection Act has been imposed and created a situation of ‘us versus them syndrome’. It caused erosion of doctor-patient relationship and escalated cost of care.   Propagation of stray and occasional incidents about negligence case in court or their outcomes are given disproportionate wide publicity in media. The patients are unable to understand the correct application of such stray incidents to themselves.

    There is a growing mutual mistrust; doctors too have started looking at every patient as a potential litigant. Especially while dealing with very sick ones, practice of defensive medicine is a natural consequence.

      To save themselves, doctors have to do mammoth paper work, leading to consumption of time that was meant for real deliberations for the benefit of patients.

           Consequently insurance companies, medical industry and lawyers have become indispensable and have positioned themselves in between doctor and patients. Besides creating a rift between doctor and patient, they charge heavily from both sides; from patients (medical insurance, lawyer fee) and doctors (indemnity insurance, lawyer’s fee) alike. The vicious cycle of rising costs, need for insurance, medicolegal suits, and high lawyer fee (for patients and doctors) goes on unabated.

     In reality it is not only the #RTH, it is the overall unfair, unsupportive and exploitive and punitive  ecosystem for doctors, which is painful. Doctors are finding actually difficult to work in such environment.

     Possibly it is a last cry before they quit or perish, if still remain unheard.

     Advantages-Disadvantage of being a doctor

     25 factors- why health care is expensive

REEL Heroes Vs Real Heroes

 21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses

Covid paradox: salary cut for doctors other paid at home

   Medical-Consumer protection Act- Pros and Cons

Expensive Medical College  seat- Is it worth it?

NEET- Not so Neat- percentile system

The  Myth  of  cost of  spending  on  medical  education needs to be made  transparent.

Exorbitantly expensive medical education and lowered merit

2

Doctor’ Revolt- a Mutiny long due globally- for  professional dignity #RTH

Administrators’ wish to govern or regulate the medical profession cruelly is not new. Hammurabi 5000 years (King of Babylonia) ago had initiated to write the rules of the game. Although he was not even at the doorstep of medical science, but he promulgated some rules. It is difficult to say whether he was naive or brilliant enough to make it more mathematical. He fixed heavy prize for saving lives of rich people and used to cut the hands of physicians for death or untoward incident. But he was still wise enough to pay heavily if life was saved. No one really knows how to regulate this difficult area, which encompasses life and death, deals with extremes of poverty and riches, mortality and morbidity, pain and relief , sadness and happiness, smiles and sorrows and uncountable emotions, intertwines with financial aspects. Most difficult part is amalgamation of intricacies of science with minds of patient and doctor’s skill in newly evolved milieu of financial complexities. Results are not encouraging for the medical profession. With the evolution of medical science and medical care intertwined with medical business, braided changes in medical regulation is not an far off expectation. But reticulation of evolution to modern medicine and health care has not happened in isolation. Simultaneously there has been progressively complex

 Administrators’ wish to govern or regulate the medical profession cruelly is not new.  Hammurabi 5000 years (King of Babylonia) ago had initiated to write the rules of the game. Although he was not even at the   doorstep of medical science, but he  promulgated some rules. It is difficult to say whether he was naive or brilliant  enough to make it more mathematical. He fixed  heavy prize for saving lives   of rich people and used to  cut the hands of physicians for death or untoward incident. But he was still wise enough to pay heavily if life was saved. 

     No one really knows how to regulate this difficult area, which encompasses life and death, deals with extremes of poverty and riches, mortality and morbidity, pain and relief , sadness and happiness, smiles and sorrows and uncountable emotions, intertwines with financial aspects. Most difficult part is  amalgamation of  intricacies of science with minds of  patient and doctor’s skill in  newly evolved milieu of financial complexities.  Results are not encouraging for the medical profession.

    With the evolution of medical science and medical care intertwined with  medical business, braided changes in  medical  regulation is not an far off expectation. But reticulation of evolution to modern medicine  and health care has not happened  in  isolation. Simultaneously there has been  progressively complex emerging trends in medical business and changing patterns of health investments along with an era of corporate investments in health care  has also ushered.  Every one now wishes  to live longer  and  dreams of better quality of life with support of progressive medical care.  That kind of perception has given patients a hope in lieu of some money. With rich people willing to spend more, the insurance sector and investors putting money into health care, which was unthinkable few decades back in the  past.  

    This reticulation of business and  health care allowed health care to be controlled  in some way by administrators and investors. These people actually controlling health care are away from the health providers, who treated the patients.   The rulers are unaware of the limitation of medical science and the uncertainties and complexities of human body,  so the regulation  remains  somewhat  unfair to doctors.

   Today the global  system of medical regulation, is becoming somewhat  similar, to those ancient codes  in  terms of punishment and revenge. Differential payment system for health care also resembles the Code of Hammurabi in some respects.

       Fear factors on doctors and impact of present legal complexities is already at par with that of Hammurabi’s era. Aggrieved health care consumers may welcome a move toward harsh penalties in the name of justice and simply for revenge, but  the law has failed to   keep in mind the  poor outcomes in complex diseases, limitation of science and of course the idiosyncrasies of the human body.

    In such unfavourable and hostile circumstances, opting for a medical career is like  getting into a trouble zone and getting  entrapped into a system of exploitation and may be a self-bought disaster.  It looks like  as an absurd thought  and  highly ill advised.

       Doctors and nurses have been reduced to no more than moral and economical slaves either by industry or administrators, not infrequently pulled by legal bridle in their noses.   

 Doctors have been left with  only two ways either to persist, fight or perish. Silently quitting their beloved profession is going on for some time all over the world. Even in developed countries, there has been a fading enthusiasm to be a doctor

     Increasing cruelty and unreasonable regulation is leading to doctors’ revolt. For example   #NO-TO-RTH-AGITATION is a movement, the result of failure of Government to create public health system, but it has potential to fail the existing private doctors’ system as well. Smaller hospitals are already on verge of closure, will be forced to shut down.

    It is a cry for survival for the doctors, if short-sighted bureaucracy can understand the real problem.

Slow or acute revolt is long due globally-  no less than mutiny- a struggle for  professional dignity.

     Advantages-Disadvantage of being a doctor

     25 factors- why health care is expensive

REEL Heroes Vs Real Heroes

 21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses

Covid paradox: salary cut for doctors other paid at home

   Medical-Consumer protection Act- Pros and Cons

Expensive Medical College  seat- Is it worth it?

NEET- Not so Neat- percentile system

The  Myth  of  cost of  spending  on  medical  education needs to be made  transparent.

Exorbitantly expensive medical education and lowered merit

1

Award of Medical Degree – Get Label of ‘Thief’ or ‘Butcher’ #NO-TO-RTH

Has the time come to say ‘no to medical profession’? At least paying millions and becoming a doctor is not worth it. Social media and celebrities have rewired the people’s mind against medical profession. It has created a terrifying picture about the harm that doctors do to patients. The turmoil against medical profession in the society is linked to social media that exploits the deep wired craving of patients to know more about the “realities”. This hot emotion, generating a sense of threat to them in hospitals, is exactly what they are designed to provoke. Especial comments- facts or not- produces entirely different reactions. The analytical comments about the possible harm awaken negative thinking, tribal instinct, and hardens opinion one way or other. Media, celebrities and others are getting away with making disparaging remarks and doctors have no mechanism to retaliate. The hurtful blabber continues at will. By theatrically deriding hard work of doctors, they grabbed eyeballs to be at the centre stage of health care and prove their relevance to the system. Among millions of patients being treated every day, there are bound to be few handfuls of adverse events, poor outcomes. Media, lawyers and other opportunistic elements sniff those few incidents and discuss it with distorted version that rewards are instantaneous

Has the time come to say ‘no to medical profession’? At least paying millions and becoming a doctor is not worth it.

Movements like #NO-TO-RTH are result of long standing humiliation of medical profession.

    Social media and celebrities have rewired the people’s mind against medical profession. It has created a terrifying picture about the harm that doctors do to patients. The turmoil against medical profession in the society is linked to social media that exploits the deep wired craving of patients to know more about the “realities”. This hot emotion, generating a sense of threat to them in hospitals, is exactly what they are designed to provoke. Especial comments- facts or not- produces entirely different reactions. The analytical comments about the possible harm awaken negative thinking, tribal instinct, and hardens opinion one way or other.

     Media, celebrities and others are getting away with making disparaging remarks and doctors have no mechanism to retaliate. The hurtful blabber continues at will. By theatrically deriding hard work of doctors, they grabbed eyeballs to be at the centre stage of health care and  prove their relevance to the system.

     Among millions of patients being treated every day, there are bound to be few handfuls of adverse events, poor outcomes. Media, lawyers and other opportunistic elements sniff those few incidents and discuss it with distorted version that rewards are instantaneous.

Talking about death, negligence in medical care on media is a frightening topic and not without consequences. Ethical lines are crossed frequently. Negative emotions are generated like hate, anger and hurt and usually instigating against the medical profession.  By use of few provocative words, the media can be set on metaphorical fire; the populism statistics hit the roof. The negative projection played in a peculiar way rules the internet and television.  The media journalist hits an instantaneous stardom.

   In the mad game for popularity, cross ethical lines and create rifts. They embellish it with more provocative words and share it with their name hoping to drive more engagement. 

  With   no strong retaliation from doctors’ associations, shrugging and ignoring by individual doctors has made medical profession not only a scapegoat but a medium to gain cheap popularity for everyone who can publically bash the medical community. Doctors’ associations have failed to fight to save dignity and pride of their members.

            In such unfavourable and hostile circumstances, medical students paying crores to get medical college seat is like  getting into a trouble zone and getting  entrapped into a system of exploitation and may be a self-bought disaster.  Someone paying for being a doctor  in millions and  crores is an absurd thought  and  highly ill advised. For the candidates who are not financially strong, it may be difficult to even recover the money spent, what to say about the time and youth wasted in  getting a degree which may or may not be that worth.

       The painful aspect is that after a medical student is awarded a degree, he becomes part of the community that is labelled as ‘thief’ or ‘butcher’  or ‘worst’ on various platform openly by media and prominent people. Sadly no action is taken for their public humiliation and passed as a routine issue. Courts and human right commission also remain silent on grave injustice to this educated and hard working community.

   Has the time come to say ‘no to medical profession’? At least paying millions and becoming a doctor is not worth it.

     Advantages-Disadvantage of being a doctor

     25 factors- why health care is expensive

REEL Heroes Vs Real Heroes

 21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses

Covid paradox: salary cut for doctors other paid at home

   Medical-Consumer protection Act- Pros and Cons

Expensive Medical College  seat- Is it worth it?

NEET- Not so Neat- percentile system

The  Myth  of  cost of  spending  on  medical  education needs to be made  transparent.

Exorbitantly expensive medical education and lowered merit

0

RTH-AGITATION-A Cry for Survival-Smaller hospitals need support

#RTH-AGITATION- Rajasthan - Sadly doctors are fighting for their genuine rights and dignity against all. No one is with them - media, judiciary, Government and not even patients whom they have saved. Aspiring doctors should know the reality and introspect- why they wish to be a doctors in such circumstances? Smaller hospital and individual doctors' clinics are backbone of the health care system in India. Their contribution towards public health can’t be ignored. Be it Covid care or treatment of daily ailments, they are actually helpful to the public and indispensable in real sense. Their contribution to society is huge especially in view of broken public health care system. They provide health care near to public near their residential area at affordable cost. From an another angle, they generate employment to the workers as well as small businesses associated with their small hospitals. In a populous country like India, strengthening these smaller hospital is a desirable step. To strengthen the health care, Government can actually do well to support these hospitals and achieve health care to all. Supporting them will require a fraction of resources, as compared to the money needed in case Govt has to provide to public itself. It will be a short-sightedness of the Government policies, if instead of supporting them, Govt wishes to exploit their resources to give free health care to public.

#RTH-AGITATION- Rajasthan – Sadly doctors are fighting for their genuine rights and dignity against all. No one is with them – media, judiciary, Government and not even patients whom they have saved.

   Aspiring doctors should know  the reality  and introspect- why they wish to be a doctors in such circumstances?

  Smaller hospital and individual doctors’ clinics are backbone of the health care system in India. Their contribution towards public health  can’t be ignored. Be it Covid care  or treatment of daily ailments,  they are actually helpful to the public  and indispensable in real sense. Their contribution to society is huge especially  in view of broken public health care system.

         They provide health care near to public near their residential area at affordable cost. From an another angle, they generate employment to the workers as well as small businesses associated with their small hospitals.

In a populous country like India, strengthening these smaller hospital is a desirable step. To strengthen the health care, Government can actually do well to support these hospitals and achieve health care to  all. Supporting them  will require a fraction of  resources, as compared to the money needed in case  Govt has to provide to public itself.

   It will be a short-sightedness of the Government  policies, if instead of supporting them, Govt wishes to exploit their resources  to give free health care to public.

 But administrators  and bureaucratic system has failed on both fronts. Neither they were able to develop a  dependable health care system for public, nor they tried to support  smaller health systems. What they tried to do was akin to the ancient  story of  ‘ the farmer and the Golden goose’. The Greedy farmer wanted all the golden eggs instantly without feeding the bird and therefore  killed the duck.  Government  with its short-sighted bureaucracy is killing its golden health care and not realizing the real potential and benefits.

In the present day,  ebbed from all sides, doctors need to earn back the dignity of profession and resist oppression. The phenomenon of  oppression of doctors in the name of regulation is a global issue. The populist oppressive schemes in the  misleading names like  #RTH-Rajasthan (RIGHT TO HEALTH)  are prevalent everywhere globally in  some form or another. Doctors and nurses  have been  reduced to no more than moral and economical slaves either by industry or administrators, not infrequently pulled by legal bridle in their noses.

    

Will Rajasthan’s Right to health bill do more harm than Good

Acquiring kind of skill , the years of passionate, merciless, excruciating  medical learning   is placed  at the disposal of  administrators, who themselves have failed to develop a good health care system in real sense.  

    #NO-TO-RTH-AGITATION is  a movement , the result of failure of Government to create public health system, but it has potential to  fail the  existing  private doctors’  system as well. Smaller hospitals are already on verge of closure, will be forced to shut down. It carries the risk of extinction of neighbourhood friendly doctor and hospitals.

      The basic problem is the intentions for the task of developing a good health care system.  The agenda of administration is to control the health care workers rather than developing a good health care system for citizens.

 What NO-TO-RTH-AGITATION is actually doing? It is a  cry for survival of  the smaller hospitals- not only  for themselves but for Indian Health care  system, if short-sighted bureaucracy can understand the real problem.

     Advantages-Disadvantage of being a doctor

     25 factors- why health care is expensive

REEL Heroes Vs Real Heroes

 21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses

Covid paradox: salary cut for doctors other paid at home

   Medical-Consumer protection Act- Pros and Cons

Expensive Medical College  seat- Is it worth it?

NEET- Not so Neat- percentile system

The  Myth  of  cost of  spending  on  medical  education needs to be made  transparent.

Exorbitantly expensive medical education and lowered merit

1

What is wrong with medical profession?  Choosing medical career- a mistake?

It is not easy to practice as doctor these days. Media full of doctors bashing, credibility crisis and regulators perpetually hounding doctors, who are forced to work under imposed medicolegal sword. There is no day that passes when system does not perpetuate negativity against medical profession. Doctors, ebbed from all sides, have lost the dignity and independence. Doctors and nurses have been reduced to no more than moral and economical slaves either by industry or administrators, not infrequently pulled by legal bridle in their noses. The complex medical skill, the years of passionate, merciless excruciating medical learning is placed at the disposal of administrators, who themselves have already failed to develop a good health care system in real sense. Doctors have become soft targets for populist attention mongering and transforming social nuisance into messiah of the deprived by administrators -by sprouting the fraudulent generalities. All the calculations that usually precede the enslavement of medicine, everything gets discussed by administrators and industry - except the well-being of the doctors and nurses. Doctors have often wondered at the smugness with which administrators assert their right to enslave them, to control their work, to force their will, to violate their conscience, to stifle their mind. Irony is that while administrators do this, still they depend on the same doctors for saving lives -whose life they have throttled, who resent the treatment meted out to the health care workers.

    It is not easy to practice as doctor these days. Media full of doctors bashing, credibility crisis and regulators perpetually hounding doctors, who are forced to work under imposed medicolegal sword. There is no day that passes when system does not perpetuate negativity against medical profession.  Doctors, ebbed from all sides, have lost the dignity and independence.        Doctors and nurses have been reduced to no more than moral and economical slaves either by industry or administrators, not infrequently pulled by legal bridle in their noses.

    The complex medical skill, the years of passionate, merciless excruciating medical learning   is placed at the disposal of administrators, who themselves have already failed to develop a good health care system in real sense.  Doctors have become soft targets for populist attention mongering and transforming social nuisance into messiah of the deprived  by administrators -by sprouting the fraudulent generalities.

   All the calculations that usually precede the enslavement of medicine, everything gets discussed by administrators and industry – except the well-being of the doctors and nurses.

     Doctors have often wondered at the smugness with which administrators assert their right to enslave them, to control their work, to force their will, to violate their conscience, to stifle their mind. Irony is that while administrators do this, still they depend on the same doctors for saving lives -whose life they have throttled, who resent   the treatment meted out to the health care workers. 

          In todays’ era there has been bullying of doctors by administrative systems, new unreasonable laws, which use pressure tactics on medical professionals to get their own way – no less than enslavement.

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.

  1.  Medical courses are comparatively lengthy and expensive study course and difficult training with slave like duties. “enslavement of doctors”.
  2.   Uncertain future for aspiring doctors at time of training: Nowadays, doing just MBBS is not enough and it is important to specialize. Because of lesser seats in post-graduation, poor regulation of medical education, uneven criteria, ultimately very few people get the branch and college of their choice. 
  3.  Hostile environment for doctors to begin: Suddenly young and bright children complete  training and find themselves working in a hostile environment, at the receiving end of public wrath, law, media for reasons they can’t fathom. They face continuous negative publicity, poor infrastructure and preoccupied negative beliefs of society.
  4. Difficult start of career:  After a difficult time at medical college, an unsettled family life and with no money, these brilliant doctors begin their struggle. Even before they start earning a penny, the society already has its preconceived notions because of negative media publicity and  treats them as cheats and dishonest. Their work is seen with suspicion and often criticised.
  5. The fear and anxiety about the actual treatment, favourable and unfavourable prognosis of patient, keeps mind of a doctor occupied.
  6. Blamed for all malaise: The society gets biased because of the   media reports and some celebrity talking glib against medical profession. The blame for inept medical system, administrative failure and complexity of medical industry is conveniently loaded on doctors. These lead to formation of generalised sentiment against all doctors and are then unfortunately blamed for all the malaise in the entire healthcare system.
  7. Personal and family life suffers: Large number of patients with lesser number of doctors is a cause of difficult working circumstances, and the frequent odd hour duties have a very negative impact on the family and personal life of the doctor.
  8. Risk doctoring himself: Repeated exposure to infected patients in addition to long work hours without proper meals make them prone to certain health hazards, like infections which commonly include   tuberculosis and other bacterial and viral illnesses. Radiologists get radiation exposure. Because of difficult working conditions, some doctors are prone to depression, anxiety and may start on substance abuse.21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses
  9. Unrealistic expectations of society:  Every patient is not salvageable but commonly the relatives do not accept this reality. Pressure is mounted on doctor to do more while alleging that he is not working properly. Allegations of incompetency and negligence are quite common in such circumstances. These painful discussions can go to any extent and a single such relative every day is enough to spoil the mood for the day.
  10. Retrospective analysis of doctor’s every action continues all the life. It could be by  patients and relatives every day  in the form of  “ Why this was not done before?” Everyday irritating discussions, arguments, complaints, disagreements add to further pain and discontentment, in case the patient is not improving. Or it could be by courts and so many regulatory bodies. If unfortunately there is a lawsuit against a doctor, he will be wasting all his time with lawyers and courts, which will takes years to sort out.

The decision taken in emergency will be questioned  and  in retrospect they may not turn out to be the best one, but later retrospective analysis along with wisdom of hindsight with luxury of time, may be labelled as wrong if a fault-finding approach is used. This along with general sentiment and sympathy with sufferer makes medical profession a sitting duck for lawsuit and punishments. Even if the doctor is proved to be not guilty, his harassment and tarnishing of reputation would be full and almost permanent.

11. Physical assault, routine instances of verbal abuse and threat are common for no fault of theirs. Many become punching bags for the inept medical system and invisible medical industry. Recently, even female doctors have not been spared by mobs. Silence of prominent  people, celebrities and society icons on this issue is a pointer towards increasing uncivilized mind-set of society.

12. Medical industry may be rich but not the doctors: The belief that doctor’s is a rich community is not correct. Although decent or average earnings may be there, but earnings of most doctors is still not commiserate with their hard work viz-a-viz other professions. Doctors who also work like investor, a manager or collaborate with industry may be richer. But definitely most of doctors who are just doing medical care are not really rich.

13. Windfall profits for lawyers and law industry at the cost of doctors is a disadvantage for medical profession:  zero fee and fixed commission ads on television by lawyers in health systems are a common advertisement to harass doctors.  They lure patients to file law suits and promise them hefty reimbursements. There is no dearth of such   relatives, lawyers who are ready to try their luck, sometimes in vengeance and sometimes for lure of money received in compensations.  This encouragement and instigation of lawsuit against doctors is a  major disadvantage for medical profession.

14. Overall, a complex scenario for doctors: There is increasing discontentment among doctors because of this complex and punishing system. They are bound by so many factors that they finally end up at the receiving end all the time. They are under Hippocratic oath and therefore expected to work with very high morality, goodwill and kindness for the sufferings of mankind and dying patients.  They are also supposed to maintain meticulous documentation and also supposed to work under norms of  medical industry. They are supposed to see large number of patients with fewer staff and nursing support while still giving excellent care in these circumstances. And if these were not enough, the fear of courts and medico-legal cases, verbal threats, abuses, and physical assaults and show of distrust by patient and relatives further makes working difficult.

In this era, a thought is gradually getting prevalent-‘Is choosing medical career or becoming a doctor is a mistake?

     Advantages-Disadvantage of being a doctor

     25 factors- why health care is expensive

REEL Heroes Vs Real Heroes

 21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses

Covid paradox: salary cut for doctors other paid at home

   Medical-Consumer protection Act- Pros and Cons

Expensive Medical College  seat- Is it worth it?

NEET- Not so Neat- percentile system

The  Myth  of  cost of  spending  on  medical  education needs to be made  transparent.

Exorbitantly expensive medical education and lowered merit

0

Struggle for professional independence: #RTH-Rajasthan doctors are global leaders

In the present era, Doctors are ebbed from all sides, need to earn back the dignity of profession and resist oppression. The phenomenon of oppression in the name of regulation is a global issue. The oppressive schemes in the misleading names like #RTH Rajasthan (RIGHT TO HEALTH) are prevalent everywhere globally in some form or another. Doctors and nurses have been reduced to no more than moral and economical slaves either by industry or administrators, not infrequently pulled by legal bridle in their noses. Doctors in Rajasthan India have shown first of its kind revolt, that is just waiting to happen globally at some stage. It is not easy to practice as doctor these days. Media full of doctors bashing, credibility crisis and regulators perpetually hounding doctors, who are forced to work under imposed medicolegal sword. There is no day that passes when system does not perpetuate negativity against medical profession. By certain laws and Acts like RTH, an effort is on to place medicine under State control. Acquiring kind of skill , the years of passionate, merciless excruciating medical learning is placed at the disposal of administrators, who themselves have already failed to develop a good health care system in real sense. Doctors have become soft targets for populist attention mongering and transforming social nuisance into messiah of the deprived by administrators -by sprouting the fraudulent generalities. All the calculations that usually precede the enslavement of medicine, everything gets discussed by administrators and industry - except the well-being of the doctors and nurses. Doctors have often wondered at the smugness with which administrators

  In the present era, Doctors are  ebbed from all sides,  need to earn back the dignity of profession and resist oppression. The phenomenon of oppression in the name of medical- regulation is a global issue. The oppressive schemes in the  misleading names like  #RTH  Rajasthan (RIGHT TO HEALTH) are prevalent everywhere globally in  some form or another.

       Doctors and nurses  have been  reduced to no more than moral and economical slaves either by industry or administrators, not infrequently pulled by legal bridle in their noses.

      Doctors in Rajasthan India have shown  first of its kind revolt, that is just waiting to happen  globally at some stage.

Will Rajasthan’s Right to health bill do more harm than Good?

    It is not easy to practice as doctor these days. Media  full of  doctors bashing, credibility crisis and regulators perpetually hounding doctors, who are forced to work  under imposed medico-legal sword. There is no day that passes when system does not perpetuate negativity against medical profession.

 By certain  laws and  Acts like RTH, an effort is on to place   medicine   under State control.  Acquiring kind of skill , the years of passionate, merciless  excruciating  medical learning   is placed  at the disposal of  administrators, who themselves have already failed to develop a good health care system in real sense.  

Doctors  have become soft targets for populist attention mongering and transforming  social  nuisance into messiah of the deprived  by administrators -by sprouting the fraudulent generalities.

   All the calculations that usually precede the enslavement of medicine, everything gets discussed by administrators and industry – except the well-being of the doctors and nurses.

Doctors have often wondered at the smugness with which administrators assert their right to enslave them, to control their work, to force their will, to violate their conscience, to stifle their mind. Irony is that while administrators do this, still they depend on the same doctors for saving lives -whose life they have throttled, who resent   the treatment meted out to the health care workers.  Like the failed medical system, administrators have failed to realize that all the negativity perpetuated against doctors, who are working with the burden of mistrust under medico-legal sword is going to make them less safe. 

 Administrators, who have never treated a patient in their lifetimes, not only try to control treatment of thousands of patients, but project themselves messiah by demonizing doctors. Lowly educated celebrities and administrators have found a new easy way to project themselves on higher pedestrian by publicly insulting highly educated but vulnerable doctors. The biggest tragedy to the medical profession in the present era is the new fad of administrators to discourage and demonize  the  medical profession for their popularity gains.
          Being  so distant from the ground reality, their role should not have been more than facilitators, but they have become medical  administrators. To control the health system, administrators have a tendency to pretend that shortcomings in the patient care can be rectified by punishing the doctors and nurses.

   Slow or acute revolt is long due. Doctors have only two ways- either to persist, fight or perish. Silently quitting their beloved profession is going on for some time all over the world. Even in developed countries, there has been a fading enthusiasm to be a doctor. But doctors of Rajasthan have shown the way. The way to persist and resist the indignity handed over to medical profession.   The have shown that the struggle was not that difficult that  it looked  to be. They have chosen the correct path of struggle for Independence (Professional).  That makes them global leaders without any doubt.

     Advantages-Disadvantage of being a doctor

     25 factors- why health care is expensive

REEL Heroes Vs Real Heroes

 21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses

Covid paradox: salary cut for doctors other paid at home

   Medical-Consumer protection Act- Pros and Cons

Expensive Medical College  seat- Is it worth it?

NEET- Not so Neat- percentile system

The  Myth  of  cost of  spending  on  medical  education needs to be made  transparent.

Exorbitantly expensive medical education and lowered merit

0

Right to Health Bill #(RTH)-Rajasthan – An imposed unfair, undemocratic dictate for doctors?

In the new ‘ Right to Health- Bill- Rajasthan’, because of government inability to provide basic and essential services, private hospitals are dictated to render services. As services at Government hospitals are inadequate and have failed to provide facilities to handle the emergencies. Since the patients cannot be left without treatment, provision for emergency services should be made available to country’s population. That is the Government’s duty which the administrators have failed to fulfil. Therefore co-operation from private sector is expected, but it should be sought as help rather than an imposed dictate. This act, though may have a noble intention in mind, should be analysed by all stakeholders in an objective manners. • Will government render some support in any manner to private health organizations, which they may need genuinely in order to do this difficult task, as the Government itself has been unable to do in so many years? • In order to provide these essential services especially emergency and lifesaving, is government asking the private players for help for this noble cause or does this act simply dictates its wish onto the private players bulldozing their genuine concerns in doing so? • Will Government increase its’ own responsibility and accountability and shoulder more responsibility towards ‘Health to All’ or it is only for private doctors to provide? • Will government provide physical and legal protection to doctors and health establishments on the issues arising from the act?

Will Rajasthan’s Right to health bill do more harm than Good

       In the new ‘ Right to Health- Bill- Rajasthan’,   because of government inability to provide basic and essential services, private hospitals are dictated to render services.  As services at Government hospitals are inadequate and have failed to provide facilities to handle the emergencies.  Since the patients cannot be left without treatment, provision  for  emergency services should be made available to country’s population. That is the Government’s duty which the administrators have failed to fulfil.  Therefore co-operation from private sector is expected, but it should be sought as help rather than an imposed dictate. This act, though may have a noble intention in mind, should be analysed by all stakeholders in an objective manners.  

        • Will government render some support in any manner to private health organizations, which they may need genuinely in order to do this difficult task, as  the Government itself has been unable to do in so many years?

       • In order to provide these essential services especially emergency and lifesaving, is government asking the private players for help for this noble cause or does this act simply dictates its wish onto the private players bulldozing their genuine concerns in doing so?

  • Will Government increase its’ own responsibility and accountability and  shoulder more  responsibility towards ‘Health to All’ or it is only for private doctors to provide?

        • Will government provide physical and legal protection to doctors and health establishments on the issues arising from the act?

         • Although the RTH looks like is a democratic action, but is it democratic to doctors and private health players as well? Are their genuine problems and views addressed and accommodated?

          • What are government’s plans in the long term to improve  such services? Does it plan to continue forcing the private setups (without ant help to them) or are there any plans to improve the government health facilities in future to a level commiserate with the need of the hour.

 Imposing such dictates will definitely force the aspiring doctors to think, whether   to choose  medical career or not.

Will Rajasthan’s Right to health bill do more harm than Good

The Rajasthan government’s proposed right to health bill has landed in deep controversy due to objections from the private healthcare sector, which is dishonouring as a part of the protests the provision of cashless treatment under existing state-run schemes. The draft bill has been criticised as a hasty job that overlooks ground realities and suffers from lacunae that the Ashok Gehlot government is apparently resisting taking note of.

Chief minister Gehlot, on February 17, urged private hospitals to end their boycott of the Chiranjeevi scheme and the Rajasthan Government Health Scheme (RGHS), which provide mostly cashless treatment to private individuals and government employees, respectively, terming it improper on humanitarian grounds. “The private sector has a role to play in making Rajasthan a model state in healthcare, and we will clarify all doubts of private hospitals about the right to health bill,” Gehlot said. It remains to be seen if his appeal has any impact, given that private doctors’ associations have accused the government of intimidating private hospitals to end the boycott of the bill.

Social activists backing the bill have opened a separate front by criticising private hospitals for opposing the proposed legislation. The moot question is this: Does right to health only include private healthcare, which the bill aims at, or also things like potable water, clean air, unadulterated edibles and quality roads? In short, factors determining a healthy life but excluded from the ambit of the proposed law.

The bill has been in the pipeline for some months now. It was tabled in the state assembly in September 2022 but referred to a select committee subsequently because the Opposition and doctors’ fraternity wanted it be debated thoroughly. On February 15, the select committee deferred its scheduled meeting as private doctors threatened to step up their stir against the bill. Earlier, the state government had expressed its resolve to push ahead with passage of the bill.

A key contentious point in the bill is that no medical facility—whether government or private—can deny a patient ‘emergency’ care. The bill, however, falls short of defining ‘emergency condition’ and how the cost of treatment is to be reimbursed to private hospitals. Private doctors and private medical institutions feel the bill will give extraordinary powers to designated government officials to enter their premises and harass them.

Rajasthan has been witnessing a sharp rise in patient-doctor conflicts, both in government hospitals where doctors are accused of negligence as well as private medical facilities, which are accused of charging patients exorbitantly. Critics of the bill say it fails to address the concerns of doctors. Initially, private doctors had protested against the clause to compulsorily provide ‘emergency’ care to patients. They cited various aspects of their concern, such as someone with even a minor injury demanding emergency treatment at a hospital or a person suffering a heart attack approaching a hospital or nursing home that lacks facilities to deal with such a case.

As details of the draft bill emerged, there was also apprehension in the private healthcare sector that the bill may become a tool to bring ‘inspector raj’ into the medical sector. “Once you give officials open access to enter our premises, it is bound to be misused. The bill is a ploy of bureaucrats to control the private medical sector,” alleges Dr Vijay Kapoor, secretary, Private Hospitals and Nursing Home Societies, Jaipur. Highlighting ‘discrepancies’ in the bill, Kapoor points out that while a person who wheels in an accident victim to a hospital is entitled to a reward of Rs 5,000, the bill is silent on how the hospital would be reimbursed for treating the patient. “The bill

Private hospitals have been the backbone of the Gehlot government’s flagship Chiranjeevi scheme, under which beneficiaries are entitled to free treatment worth up to Rs 25 lakh in government and affiliated private hospitals. The scheme has been hit by the alleged refusal of many private hospitals to admit patients—as a symbol of protest against the right to health bill.

The Chiranjeevi scheme allows private hospitals to bill patients for certain costs incurred so as to partially compensate for the high cost of diagnostics  and treatment. Private hospitals expect a similar consideration in the right to health bill, besides widening the scope of factors determining ‘healthy life’.

Some doctors wonder if a separate bill like this was necessary at all since right to health was enshrined as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. Moreover, private doctors say they hardly have any representation in the various committees proposed to implement the provisions of the bill, grassroots level up.

Social activists like Nikhil Dey of the Rajasthan Soochna Evam Rozgar Adhikar Abhiyan and Kavita Srivastava of the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) are dismissive of the opposition to the bill. “It cannot be acceptable that the life of a rich individual is saved but not of a poor for want of money,” says Dey. Srivastava adds that while some objections of doctors could be genuine, the bill cannot be rejected outright.

Private doctors claim schemes to provide healthcare through the private sector under insurance coverage by the state government have been marred by corruption. “Hefty bribes are sought for empanelment of hospitals under these schemes, reimbursement of claims and settlement of complaints if any,” alleges Kapoor.

With more and more private hospitals allegedly refusing cashless treatment to private individuals and government employees under state-run health schemes, patients are suffering. Besides, given the accusation that officials demand bribes and some government doctors patronise certain private hospitals, Gehlot’s right to health bill appears caught in rough weather, all the more since it’s perceived as been hastily drafted.

     Advantages-Disadvantage of being a doctor

     25 factors- why health care is expensive

REEL Heroes Vs Real Heroes

 21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses

Covid paradox: salary cut for doctors other paid at home

   Medical-Consumer protection Act- Pros and Cons

Expensive Medical College  seat- Is it worth it?

NEET- Not so Neat- percentile system

The  Myth  of  cost of  spending  on  medical  education needs to be made  transparent.

Exorbitantly expensive medical education and lowered merit

0

Medical CPA- Becoming Tool to extract money from Doctors- NCDRC penalizes patient

In a reverse trend and one of the rare instances where a patient asking for 25 lakhs of compensation was penalized by NCDRC for frivolous complaint. In present era, when patient is no more “patient” and defined as consumer, doctors’ status has been reduced to merely a service provider in lieu of little money. With Medical Consumer Protection Act has acquired roots, the whole system of medical delivery and healthcare has changed. Most striking is this entire fiasco is the “Us and Them” syndrome that seems to afflict all the stake holders. Doctors are pitted against every one- versus administrators, patients, managers, society and lawyers. There is no dearth of such patients, relatives and lawyers who are ready to try their luck, sometimes in vengeance and sometimes for lure of huge money received in compensations. This encouragement and instigation of lawsuit against doctors has become a major disadvantage for medical profession. Zero fee advertisements and fixed commission ads on television by lawyers in health systems in certain developed countries is an example of instigation against medical profession. They lure patients to file law suits and promise them hefty reimbursements.

 In a reverse trend and one of the rare instances where a patient asking for 25 lakhs of compensation was penalized by NCDRC for frivolous complaint.  

In present era, when patient is no more “patient” and defined as consumer, doctors’ status has been reduced to merely a service provider in lieu of little money. With Medical Consumer Protection Act has acquired roots, the whole system of medical delivery and healthcare has changed. Most striking is this entire fiasco is the “Us and Them” syndrome that seems to afflict all the stake holders. Doctors are pitted against every one- versus administrators, patients, managers, society and lawyers. 

There is no dearth of such  patients,  relatives and  lawyers who are ready to try their luck, sometimes in vengeance and sometimes for lure of  huge money received in compensations.  This encouragement and instigation of lawsuit against doctors has become a major disadvantage for medical profession.

Zero fee advertisements and fixed commission ads on television by lawyers in health systems in certain developed countries is an example of instigation against medical profession. They lure patients to file law suits and promise them hefty reimbursements.

        The patients’ right activists, media, administrators,  managers and lawyers have made their career and wealth out of it. Doctors know the truth that complications are not preventable beyond a point and are part and parcel of treatment.  The line separating errors or natural complications is really blurred and arbitrary. The doctors who work in life and death situation know it well that even natural poor prognosis can be labelled and proved as error by retrospective analysis and wisdom of hindsight and more certainly with luxury of time at disposal for lawyers and courts.

It becomes an unbalanced match specially when the amount of money which was paid to doctor to save a life was peanuts as compared to now being paid to punish him.

 Zero fee advertisements and fixed commission ads on television by lawyers in health systems in certain developed countries is an example of instigation against medical profession. They lure patients to file law suits and promise them hefty reimbursements.

  One of the  rare instances where a patient asking for 25 lakhs of compensation was penalized NCDRC10,000 rupees for frivolous  complaint

A mere perusal of the prayer clause of the Complaint shows that on the face of it itself an exaggerated claim was made without any justification given.

14.     The OP is a qualified Radiologist, having post graduate degree, MD (Radiology), and having extensive experience in performing USG of abdomen. There are certain limitations in USG. Sometimes the renal calculi are not visible due to intestinal gases shadows in the abdomen, sometimes stones even pass out through urine. Even the best of Radiologists cannot be better than the machine used for the USG, he cannot improve on the technical soundness or advancement of the machine available at his command. The more advanced a machine, the more precise is its report. However, not every hospital can afford the latest state of the art machines. And the Radiologist has to function with the machine available to him.  Pertinently, an advanced Apollo Diagnostic possesses USG 730 (GE) Machine having Advanced Live 4-D Voluson, which has more precision and accuracy, was used in the USG cited at (c) in para 11 above, in which left lower ureter stone was detected.

15.     The State Commission appears to have hastily arrived at its findings of medical negligence on the part of the OP, without examining to the requisite depth, the limitations and technicalities of USG, and without taking independent expert opinion on the subject where experts in the field could have thrown light from standard medical literature and brought forth limitations of the level of advancement of the machine used for imaging. As such its appraisal cannot sustain.

On the basis of the entire material on record and the critique made hereinabove no negligence is attributable to the OP Dr. Hulesh Mandle.

It is apparent that the instant Complaint was filed by the Complaint with wrong current address of the OP, beyond limitation, with highly inflated claim. The same, being bereft of any substance, being frivolous and vexatious, merits dismissal with cost of Rs. 10,000/- contemplated for such Complaints under Section 26 of the Act, 1986, to be deposited in the Consumer Legal Aid Account of the State Commission within six weeks from this Order. 

     Advantages-Disadvantage of being a doctor

     25 factors- why health care is expensive

REEL Heroes Vs Real Heroes

 21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses

Covid paradox: salary cut for doctors other paid at home

   Medical-Consumer protection Act- Pros and Cons

Expensive Medical College  seat- Is it worth it?

NEET- Not so Neat- percentile system

The  Myth  of  cost of  spending  on  medical  education needs to be made  transparent.

0

Violence against doctors: No support – Saviours need to save themselves

No separate law to prohibit violence against doctors, healthcare professionals: Centre More of a law and order issue, the physical assault on doctors reflects that they are serving an uncivilized society. Such news is viewed by medical community anxiously and is definitely a poor advertisement for younger generation to take medicine as profession. The medical students need to think, why they wish to enter medical profession in such an unsupportive environment? Strangely media, courts, prominent people, celebrities, human right commission, right activists are little concerned about the blatant injustice done towards doctors. This again brings forth the hypocrisy of our society and law enforcement agencies, which otherwise cry hoarse about human rights, but practically doctors (while they save others), need to fend for themselves when ugly situations arise. NEW DELHI: The Central government has decided not to enact separate legislation for prohibiting violence against doctors and other healthcare professionals, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

 

More of a law and order issue, the physical assault on doctors reflects that they are serving an uncivilized society.  Such news is viewed by medical community anxiously and is definitely a poor advertisement for younger generation to take medicine as profession. The medical students need to think, why they wish to enter medical profession in such an unsupportive environment?

     Strangely media, courts, prominent people, celebrities, human right commission, right activists are little concerned about the blatant injustice done towards doctors.  This again brings forth the hypocrisy of our society and law enforcement agencies, which otherwise cry hoarse about human rights, but practically doctors (while they save others), need to fend for themselves when ugly situations arise.  

NEW DELHI: The Central government has decided not to enact separate legislation for prohibiting violence against doctors and other healthcare professionals, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

In a written reply, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said that a draft of the Healthcare Services Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill, 2019 was prepared and was also circulated for consultations.

“Thereafter it was decided not to enact a separate Legislation for prohibiting violence against doctors and other health care professionals,” he said to a question on the reasons for the withdrawal of the Bill, which intended to protect healthcare professionals and institutions.

No separate law to prohibit violence against doctors & Health care workers

Mandaviya said that the matter was further discussed with relevant ministries and departments of government as well as all stakeholders, and an ordinance namely The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 was promulgated on April 22, 2020.

However, the government, on September 28, 2020, passed the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020 under which acts of violence against healthcare personnel during any situation were considered cognizable and non-bailable offences.

Speaking with TNIE, Dr Rohan Krishnan, National Chairman, FAIMA Doctors Association, said that there have been many cases of violence against doctors and health professionals in the past few months inside the government hospitals, but the union health ministry has not taken their demand to have a separate law for providing safety and security to healthcare workers and doctors seriously.

“The government needed us during the Covid-19 pandemic and came out with rules and regulations. We also felt safe and secure. But now that Covid-19 is declining and we were able to bring normalcy, the government is showing its true colours. It is shameful,” he said.

“The government is not standing up to its promise of bringing a separate law to prohibit violence against doctors and healthcare professionals,” he added.

“On the one hand, it has failed to provide mental and physical safety and security to the doctors and healthcare professionals; on the other hand, instead of having verbal communication with us regarding this matter, the government is denying any scope of providing a separate law in the future. This is a very serious issue. We will raise this issue at every level,” Dr Krishnan said.

Under the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, the commission or abetment of acts of violence or damage or loss to any property is punishable with imprisonment for a term of three months to five years, and with a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 2,00,000.

In case of causing grievous hurt, imprisonment shall be for a term of six months to seven years and with a fine of Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 5,00,000.

In addition, the offender shall also be liable to pay compensation to the victim and twice the fair market value for damage to property.

Since, law and order is a state subject, State, and Union Territory governments also take appropriate steps to protect healthcare professionals/institutions under provisions under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)/Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the minister said.

To another question on the number of security guards hired/outsourced by government hospitals in the country, the Minister of State for Health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar said that public health and hospitals are state subjects, therefore no such data is maintained centrally.

     Advantages-Disadvantage of being a doctor

     25 factors- why health care is expensive

REEL Heroes Vs Real Heroes

 21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses

Covid paradox: salary cut for doctors other paid at home

   Medical-Consumer protection Act- Pros and Cons

Expensive Medical College  seat- Is it worth it?

NEET- Not so Neat- percentile system

The  Myth  of  cost of  spending  on  medical  education needs to be made  transparent.

0

Assault on a Woman Doctor #Kerala: Medics Serving Uncivilized Society with Poor Law & Order

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM- Kerala: The assault on a woman doctor at Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College has made doctors preparing for a career in the medical profession worried. A bystander kicked the woman doctor on her lower abdomen in front of an ICU in the middle of the night on November 23. The CCTV visuals showed that she was surrounded by a group of bystanders. The physical assault on a lady doctor reflects that doctors are serving an uncivilized society. Such news is viewed by medical community anxiously and is definitely a poor advertisement for younger generation to take medicine as profession. Strangely media, courts, prominent people, celebrities, human right commission, woman right activists and women commission are little concerned about the blatant injustice done towards doctors. This again brings forth the hypocrisy of these people and organizations, who otherwise cry hoarse about woman rights and empowerment. Whenever a female is assaulted, there is an outrage but the same support is not extended to a female if she is a doctor. Such bestiality should create havoc in minds of civilized people but this apathy to such incidents clearly indicates otherwise. Have we become so uncivilized that an incident such as this just remains as a small news item in a local paper? Can’t we see that such incidents are harbinger of many more in future? It is important to realize that this is the time to unify and condemn such episodes vehemently and

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM- Kerala: The assault on a woman doctor at Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College has made doctors preparing for a career in the medical profession worried. A bystander kicked the woman doctor on her lower abdomen in front of an ICU in the middle of the night on November 23. The CCTV visuals showed that she was surrounded by a group of bystanders.

    The physical assault on a lady doctor reflects that doctors are serving an uncivilized society.  Such news is viewed by medical community anxiously and is definitely a poor advertisement for younger generation to take medicine as profession.

     Strangely media, courts, prominent people, celebrities, human right commission, woman right activists and women commission are little concerned about the blatant injustice done towards doctors.  This again brings forth the hypocrisy of these people and organizations, who otherwise cry hoarse about woman rights and empowerment.  Whenever a female is assaulted, there is an outrage but the same support is not extended to a female if she is a doctor. Such bestiality should create havoc in minds of civilized people but this apathy to such incidents clearly indicates otherwise. Have we become so uncivilized that an incident such as this just remains as a small news item in a local paper? Can’t we see that such incidents are harbinger of many more in future? It is important to realize that this is the time to unify and condemn such episodes vehemently and prominently so that the miscreants realize that they cannot get away with it.

     Brutality against doctors reveals a deep prejudice and lawlessness, merely on the basis of perceived negligence. Government is either unwilling to act and establish a strong culture of deterrence, so justice been elusive for medical professionals.

Even murderous assaults on doctors are not enough to shake administrators, courts  and doctors’  organizations  out of slumber.  Definitely such violence, if unabated will be   poor advertisement for   next generation to take medical profession as a first choice.

Media and celebrities   have proudly  projected in films and television that doctors can be beaten and assaulted, in case there are unexpected results or in case of dissatisfaction. The “Reel Heroes” depicting violence against the doctor is seen as a routine and looked as an   easily do-able- adventure due to unwillingness of  Government  to take stringent action. As patients will continue to get treatment in hospitals and few cannot be saved, so every death declaration may be a harbinger to such attacks in future.

A notion has been propagated   that   assaulting a doctor under emotional  outburst  to be taken as normal and should not be punished.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The assault on a woman doctor at Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College has made doctors preparing for a career in the medical profession worried. A bystander kicked the woman doctor on her lower abdomen in front of an ICU in the middle of the night on November 23. The CCTV visuals showed that she was surrounded by a group of bystanders. She survived the attack and is recuperating. But the incident has left her shattered. “I am reconsidering my decision to become a neurosurgeon and even the career of a doctor,” she told Sulphi N, IMA state president, when he visited her in the hospital.The Kerala Medical Post Graduate Association has taken up her cause and demanded justice.

They are worried that such attacks would happen again and there would be a new victim. “It is unnerving that such attacks happen in medical colleges which are supposed to be a secure location. What will happen to us if we go to peripheral hospitals for practice,” said Dr Ruwise E A, Thiruvananthapuram unit president of Kerala Medical Post Graduate Association.He came to know from police officers that an arrest was unlikely on Friday and the accused was trying to secure bail. “The government should have arrested the culprit immediately and sent a message to the public that such attacks are not tolerated,” said Dr Ruwise.KMPGA plans to strengthen the strike if there is no arrest till Sunday. The doctors association has extended support to the protest by residents. “We cannot leave the students alone on this issue. It was an assault on a woman who was doing her duty. If it was a senior doctor who received such a kick on the lower abdomen he or she would not have survived the attack,” said Dr Nirmal Bhaskar, state president of Kerala Government Medical College Teachers Association (KGMCTA).The doctors share their angst as there was not enough support from government and society even when the attacks keep repeating. They did not take the Facebook post by Health Minister Veena George condemning the attack seriously.There are health experts who think that a multi-pronged approach is necessary to prevent such attacks. It involves reducing the crowd by strengthening peripheral hospitals, increasing staff and providing better security.“The government health system has become an easy target nowadays. Such attacks do not happen in private hospitals where bystanders pay the remaining hospital bills without uttering a word of protest even after the patient could not be rescued,” said Dr Althaf A, secretary of IMA, Thiruvananthapuram branch. He pointed out that there are no trained administrative cadres to manage a 4,000-bed MCH. All of this is managed by a superintendent who is also a professor with teaching responsibilities.

     Advantages-Disadvantage of being a doctor

     25 factors- why health care is expensive

REEL Heroes Vs Real Heroes

 21 occupational risks to doctors and nurses

Covid paradox: salary cut for doctors other paid at home

   Medical-Consumer protection Act- Pros and Cons

Expensive Medical College  seat- Is it worth it?

NEET- Not so Neat- percentile system

The  Myth  of  cost of  spending  on  medical  education needs to be made  transparent.

2

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