Doctors treating anarchic & lawless society # Doctor killed for perceived negligence

In an act of revenge that took over two years, a doctor with a government hospital in Yavatmal – 650 km from Mumbai – was shot dead, allegedly by a family member of his patient who had died under the doctor’s supervision two years ago.

Attacks and assaults on doctors is an indicator of a lawless, uncivilized society, poor governance and broken health system. Unwillingness or failure of government to prevent such attacks on doctors will have deep ramifications on future of medical profession. The impunity with which criminals can dare to take law into their hands and punish doctors instantly at will is a blatant disrespect to courts and judicial system. In absence of strict laws for protection of doctors, health care workers have become vulnerable to assaults and revenge.

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.

Hence by selective projection the blame for deficiencies of inept system, powerful industry, inadequate infrastructure and poor outcomes of serious diseases is shifted conveniently to doctors, who are unable to retaliate to the powerful media machinery. Role of doctor associations, parent institutes have been spineless and not encouraging.

The demonstration of the cleft that separates doctors from the actual overpowering controlling medical industry and administrators is not given, in order to maintain the prejudice with its dangerous bias towards doctors, who are in forefront and are visible to public.

Relatives shot and kill doctor for perceived negligence

Family members of the patient had alleged that it was due to the negligence of Dr Hanumant Dharmakare, medical officer at the R P Uttarwar Kutir Hospital, that their son Arbaz (20), who had met with a bike accident, died in May 2019.

The police are on the lookout for the main suspect, Aifaz Shaikh, the elder brother of Arbaz, who is believed to have shot the doctor.On January 11, Dharmakare was shot dead in broad daylight by an unidentified person on the Umarkhed – Pusad Road in Yavatmal. The police team found that the application concerned the death of his nephew Arbaz.When the police questioned Tousif further, they found that his nephew Arbaz had met with an accident on May 4, 2019. Arbaz had been riding a bike with his brother Aifaz (then 22) and a relative Moshin, when the accident took place.The family had rushed the trio to the local hospital, where Dharmakare was the on-duty doctor. The family alleged that due to negligence on the part of the doctor, Arbaaz lost his life. The family even had a fight with Dharmakare and they allegedly threatened that he would have to pay for his actions. Bhujbal said that during the police investigation, they found that for the past two years, the family had been looking for an opportunity to get back at Dharmakare. They had kept an eye on his movements even earlier this year, following which they decided to allegedly kill him last Tuesday. It was Arbaz’s elder brother Aifaz who allegedly fired at the doctor and fled from the spot on the bike.

Are we a lawless society? More problematic is the government apathy and silence of human right commission. Here comes the point that what is the role of our doctor’s organizations, human right organizations, parent hospitals and institutes.

Good Governance lies in prevention of such incidents. Knee-jerk policing activities after every incident are of limited benefit. Moreover the impunity with which people dare to take law into their hands and tend to punish doctors instantly for perceived negligence, is a blatant disrespect to courts and judicial system.

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

January 19, 2022 0

NEET-PG-Counselling: A larger public emergency issue due to Pandemic

NEET PG Post-Graduation after MBBS is an entrance qualification exam, one of toughest and important exam not only for medical students but for medical colleges and hospitals. As this exam will decide and form the back bone of the health care system in the whole country. Ultimately this exam will be the check gate to supply specialist doctors to medical colleges, hospitals and private health institutions in all the states. Post graduate trainees form the bulk load of doctors performing the duties. Needless to say these doctors form the back bone of the total health system across the country. For last two years, these junior doctors were at the forefront of the fighting the pandemic.

Since NEET PG was to be conducted in Jan 2021, but due to pandemic got postponed to Sept 2021 and result were declared few months back.

NEET PG counselling is not only issue for doctors but an actually a larger public health issue and kind of emergency due to pandemic, which will decide the availability of doctors to public.

Actually it is in patient’s interest to have early counselling.

It is a sad situation, when the world is preparing to tackle the wave of pandemic due to Omicron Variant, other countries are ramping up their health care infrastructure and manpower, and Indian doctors are being dragged on roads by police instead of employing them in hospitals.

Its importance assumes an emergency situation in face of looming pandemic. If the administrators had perceived it as merely a trivial doctors’ issue and remained complacent, it had been a grave mistake.

What was the emergency to change and frame new rules when a pandemic of such a large proportion was going on?

A delay in academic counselling means a wasted year for the NEET PG aspirants. It also means that 50000 doctors are missing from the medical system and the health care force because of bureaucratic delays, at a time when health care staff is overworked and in desperate need of more hands.

Point to ponder here is that is it the doctors who desperately need help? More precisely and in reality it is the patients and public who need doctors desperately. An early counselling is in public interest actually, the point administrators have failed to understand.

But sadly, it is up to the wisdom of administrators that decides “what is emergency and what is not” rather than medical wisdom, a case of misplaced priorities.

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

December 30, 2021 1

Highly Contagious – Low Virulence? Omicron-Covid-Variant

If the initial data is correct, the Omicron-Variant of Covid is proving to be of Highly Contagious – Low Virulence.

The Omicron variant is less likely to lead to less severe disease in people who have taken vaccines or had Covid-19 in the past, two studies from the UK have said.

Taken together with findings from South Africa – all three studies were released on Wednesday – there is now sound scientific basis to conclude the variant is less virulent than others, especially Delta, which caused a devastating outbreak in India last summer and sparked new waves in other countries.

The findings are the first encouraging scientific evidence linked to the variant of concern (VOC) discovered last month when it started tearing through parts of South Africa at a rate not seen with any other Sars-Cov-2 variant. Scientists soon discovered it was also the most resistant configuration of the coronavirus, leading to higher odds of repeat and vaccine breakthrough infections.

If the Omicron variant was to be as virulent, or more, than Delta, the implications would have been dire, although its high transmissibility and resistance still pose a threat.

“Our analysis shows evidence of a moderate reduction in the risk of hospitalisation associated with the Omicron variant compared with the Delta variant. However, this appears to be offset by the reduced efficacy of vaccines against infection with the Omicron variant. Given the high transmissibility of the Omicron virus, there remains the potential for health services to face increasing demand if Omicron cases continue to grow at the rate that has been seen in recent weeks,” said professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London, which released the analysis of Omicron and Delta cases in England.

Two UK studies, similar severity findings

The Imperial College study included all RT-PCR-confirmed Covid-19 cases recorded between December 1-14 in England. It found that Omicron cases have, on average, a 15-20% reduced risk of needing to visit a hospital (the lowest level of severity) and an approximately 40-45% reduced risk of a hospitalisation resulting in a stay of one or more nights.

It also found that a past infection offered approximately a 50-70% reduction in hospitalisation risk compared. All of these comparisons were made against risks of hospitalisation seen with the Delta variant.

The researchers estimate that in unvaccinated people being infected for the first time, the risk of hospitalisation may be lowered by 0-30%, suggesting the severity in completely immune-naive people may not be very different from those who had a Delta infection for the first time, without any vaccine.

The other UK study was from Scotland. Although based on a small number of hospitalisations, the study made similar findings: those with Omicron infections were 68% less likely to need hospitalisation compared to people infected with the Delta variant.

Both reports, as well as the South African study, are yet to be peer-reviewed.

The Imperial College researchers also said in their study that Omicron infections in people with vaccination may be even less likely to require ICU admission or lead to death when compared to Delta variant, “given that remaining immune protection against more severe outcomes of infection are expected to be much higher than those against milder endpoints”.

Need for vaccines, boosters

The detailed findings corroborate lab studies that show people with booster doses have a more adequate immune response to counter the Omicron variant. In their real-world analysis, the Scotland report found a 57% reduction in the risk of symptomatic infection in people who were infected with the VOC compared to those who just had two doses at least 25 weeks prior.

The detailed Imperial College findings made similar findings. For instance, people with two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine (used in India as the Covishield vaccine), had a higher risk ratio of 0.37 than those with three doses of the same vaccine (0.21). These risk ratios mean two doses reduced the risk of hospitalisation by 63% while three doses cut it by 79%.

Crucially, the report added, people who took the AstraZeneca vaccine had a lower risk in needing to visit a hospital if infected by the Omicron variant when compared to the equivalent risk in the case of a Delta variant infection. In the case of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, the likelihood of requiring a hospital visit – defined as the lowest level of severity – were similar between Omicron and Delta infections.

The report also stressed on the need to vaccinate the unvaccinated, especially those who did not have a past infection. “The proportion of unvaccinated individuals infected is likely to be substantially higher. In that context, our finding that a previous infection reduces the risk of any hospitalisation by approximately 50% and the risk of a hospital stay of 1+ days by 61% (before adjustments for under ascertainment of reinfections) is significant,” the report said.

Most cases In India Asymptomatic

With reports of new cases surfacing, the overall number of Omicron cases in India has now reached 33. According to experts, the spread of the new variant is less concerning than that of Delta as the symptoms are mild. While this is partly because of the nature of this new variant, another reason might be the high rate of seropositivity of Indians, experts have said.

“India has the advantage of a very high rate of ‘seropositivity’ of 70, 80 per cent, and in big cities more than 90 per cent people already have antibodies,” Rakesh Mishra, former Director of CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) here, told PTI. Even if people get infected by Omicron, it will be very mild and mostly asymptomatic, Mishra said.

India’s Omicron tally rises to 33: Tracing Covid-19’s new variant in various states

A fresh wave of the pandemic may come even without Omicron, Mishra said referring to the fresh waves in Europe. Ruling out the possibility of a surge in hospitalisation, he said wearing the mask, maintaining social distancing and getting vaccinated remain the three major weapons against future waves.

All Omicron cases in India are mild and there has been no report of Omicron death in India and in any country of the world. The common symptoms are weakness, sore throat etc. Many Omicron patients of India have already recovered and tested negative for Covid.

Capital Delhi reported a new Omicron case on Saturday as a Zimbabwe-returnee tested positive. Reports said the patient only complained of weakness.

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

December 24, 2021 0

Medical Education: Doctors- Victims of Grave Injustice Expected to Impart Justice to all

Non-uniformity of medical education is treating medical students as slaves and killing enthusiasm of young doctors.

Medical profession is an extremely strenuous and highly specialised field that requires individuals to dedicate their lives in the service of others. As part of medical professionals’ education and training, they are necessitated to undertake training across various settings. In this context, a stipend is paid as a matter of right and not charity. It is therefore essential that parity and equity be maintained across all medical institutions, whether run by private bodies or by the government. In absence of proper Governance and rules, the young doctors are thrown at the mercy of cruel businessman for proper pay and working conditions.

Ensure uniform stipend to Interns: Binoy Viswam, Rajya Sabha MP

Great disparity in stipend at Govt. Private Colleges

Medical education is one field where one can notice the extreme variations of the unimaginable magnitude that are beyond comfort.

Falling standards of medical education is the most important side effect which should be an important issue, but sadly it is the last priority on the list of administrators. Each and every medical college can be different and student passing out of many colleges receive below average medical education.

Another important variation is in the stipend and remuneration of young trainee doctors receive. It varies from college to college, city to city, state to state as well as North to South and East to West. Besides being a cause for heartburn. it is a cause for extreme dissatisfaction among medical students.

Needless to say the arbitrariness exercised by various authorities to pay them at their will is a reflection of grave injustice imposed by administrators.

Another arbitrariness reflecting injustice is variation in fee of medical colleges. The steep fee charged by private medical colleges and restrictive bonds of Government medical colleges in name of expensive medical seats need a sincere and honest introspection by authorities. The basis for calculations of the cost of medical education should be transparent and shown in public domain.

Needless to say that medical students have been sufferers of poor and arbitrariness of inept administrative policies. Just because they decided to be doctors, they have to endure poor, unjust and arbitrary policies.

Ironically as a child decides to be a doctor, he is exploited in name of such policies of unreasonable high fee, poor education and low pay. That too while working in extremely inhuman conditions, long and hard working hours. Strangely these medical students suffer grave injustice inflicted by the society since start of their medical education, but when they become doctors, everyone expects sympathy, empathy and honesty.

In absence of proper Governance and rules, the young doctors are thrown at the mercy of cruel businessman.

Still the sufferers of grave injustice themselves are expected to impart justice to everyone along with burden of mistrust.

Ensure uniform stipend to Interns: Great disparity in stipend at Govt. Private Colleges

Binoy Viswam, Rajya Sabha MP, has urged Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to ensure equity in payment of internship to medical students in private and government medical colleges across the country.In a letter to the Minister, Mr. Viswam said that the National Medical Commission’s Draft Regulations on Compulsory Rotating Internship, 2021, issued on April 21 and gazetted on November 18, had said that all interns shall be paid stipend “as fixed by the appropriate fee fixation authority as applicable to the institution/university/State.”

Ambiguity

“The phrasing of this provision allowed for great ambiguity and arbitrariness. It may also result in management of private colleges denying stipend to the interns as they have complete discretion without any safeguarding mechanism. The ramifications of the same are already being seen in colleges across the country as great variance exists in stipend amounts being paid in government colleges as opposed to private colleges,” he pointed out.

A right, not charity

Mr. Viswam said that medical profession was an extremely strenuous and highly specialised field that required individuals to dedicate their lives in the service of others. “As part of medical professionals’ education and training, they are necessitated to undertake internships across various settings. In this context, a stipend is paid as a matter of right and not charity. It is therefore essential that parity and equity be maintained across all medical institutions, whether run by private bodies or by the government,” he said.

The MP requested the Minister to consult with all stakeholders, including State governments, medical college managements, medical professionals, and students to formulate a policy that ensures equity among medical students. A uniform stipend to all interns would ensure that, he added.

The erstwhile Medical Council of India had come up with a public notice on January 25, 2019, on Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 1997. The Board of Governors that superseded the MCI was considering a provision that said “All the candidates pursuing compulsory rotating internship at the institution from which MBBS course was completed, shall be paid stipend on par with the stipend being paid to the interns of the State government medical institution/Central government medical institution in the State/Union Territory where the institution is located.” However, it was not gazetted until the Board was dissolved.

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

December 21, 2021 0

Side Effects-Implementing Medical-Consumer-Protection-Act in Haste

Medical consumer protection act was implemented in 1995. Patients defined as consumers and hence doctors converted to service providers in lieu of some money. Consequently the changed definitions altered the doctor-patient relationship in an irreversible way. Instead of the earlier congenial relationship, now-a day’s doctors and patients are fighting in courts, whereas most of aspects of the law still remain grey after 26 years of implementation. Here in this case even courts differ in the interpretation (among themselves) of the law after more than two decades of its implementation.

The doctors are supposed to treat, provide relief and save lives are the most affected, it is needless to say that the way of treating patients has been altered like never before. Medical lawsuits and complaints (right or wrong) are breaking medical professionals from within, not to mention the toll it takes on someone’s confidence and belief, which takes a lifetime to build.

The reality is that neither doctors, nor patients were ready for such a legal relationship, and the system was not robust enough for such a change. To work with weak infrastructure, non-uniform medical education along with legal threats pushed doctors into a shell and forced defensive practice. It caused erosion of doctor-patient relationship and escalated cost of care.

Medical business, insurance and legal industry made full use of the opportunity to have the benefits of changed doctor-patient relationship. Doctors were used as scapegoats for poor infrastructure by administrators and further exploited by law industry.

Justice eluded doctors at all stages.

It is discouraging for medical professionals to note that courts are still clarifying the law even after 26 years of its implementation. What is more disheartening that many more aspects about the medical-consumer protection act are either remain unclear and create difficulty for doctors. To differentiate medical mistakes, poor prognosis from negligence is a very fine line and difficult to judge. Therefore medical profession has become a subject to blackmail by patients, lawyers and sitting ducks for punishments. The consequent insecurity among doctors, practice of defensive medicine, enhanced costs, excessive documentation and the distraction from the primary point of intention (treatment) are few of the side effects, which will definitely be passed on to the patients inadvertently. After all doctors have to save themselves as well.

Consequently being consumer may be overall a loss making deal for the patients.

The point to ponder is that courts themselves differ on interpretation of law even after 26 years of its implementation.

The Supreme Court has reiterated that service rendered by medical officers on behalf of a Hospital, free of cost, would not fall within the ambit of medical consumer protection act.

https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/consumer-case-not-maintainable-over-medical-services-given-free-of-charge-doctor-salary-hospital-supreme-court-187291

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

December 10, 2021 0

Pendency at Hospitals Vs Courts: A Comparison- Imparting Justice Vs Health

Justice and Health- Both are crucial for happiness of the living beings as well as society as a whole. Hospitals are full of patients and so are courts with litigants. None of the people go to hospital and courts happily and everyone invariably wants early relief.

Once a patient visits hospital, he will ponder over about the benefit of the visit. So is the person visiting the courts. Did they were imparted justice?

None of patient, who visits hospital, comes back without treatment. Doctor gets few minutes to decide. Most of the time, for the investigations and the treatment few visits are required. But there is no pendency. In Government hospitals, even appointments are not given. A doctor sitting in outdoor will see hundreds of patients. On emergencies night duties, doctor will not be able to count how many he/she has stabilized or numbers treated.

Even in such chaotic systems, doctor can be punished, dragged to courts or assaulted for unintentional mistakes, that are almost always secondary to load of patients or inept infrastructure.

The work at hospital continues day and night, 24 hours and 365 days, despite almost always lesser number of doctors and required manpower. Systems in hospitals are designed and maintained meticulously to have no pendency what-so-ever situation is. Larger number of patients go back home treated and very few unfortunate patients are unable to recover, but still whatever is required- is done invariably.

Justice is needed for satisfaction of soul and peaceful mind, is of same importance what is to the health of body. Justice delayed gives a sense of hurt and pain to soul. Pendency in courts simply reflects the grave injustice people are living with.

44 million pending court cases: How did we get here?

There are about 73,000 cases pending before the Supreme Court and about 44 million in all the courts of India, up 19% since last year.

According to a 2018 Niti Aayog strategy paper, at the then-prevailing rate of disposal of cases in our courts, it would take more than 324 years to clear the backlog. And the pendency at that time was 29 million cases. Cases that had been in the courts for more than 30 years numbered 65,695 in December 2018. By January this year, it had risen more than 60% to 1,05,560.

Grave injustice for medical professions:

A doctor making wrong diagnosis (gets few minutes to decide) can be prosecuted, but courts giving wrong verdicts (get years to decide) are immune?

2. Compare the remuneration of lawyers to doctors. Doctors gets few hundreds to save a life (often with abuses) and lawyers can get paid in millions (happily).

3. Doctors treat the body and larger is still not fully known about mechanisms. Still doctors can be blamed for unanticipated events. Whereas law is a completely known and written subject.

4. If health is citizen’s right so should be a timely justice.

Despite doing so much for patients, still people’s behaviour to doctors and hospitals is not respectful. Doctors are punished for slight delays and people and courts intolerant to unintentional mistakes. But people can’t behave in the same manner to courts and legal system and tolerate the blatant injustice for years.

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

December 5, 2021 2

Justice Delayed to Doctor- Vindication # Supreme-Court # Medical-Negligence?

It has taken 23 years to end harassment of a doctor to decide upon a problem, which should not have been there at all. Practically doctors can be dragged to courts, blackmailed, harassed and assaulted with impunity just because of any adverse outcome. So the legal and illegal demonization of medical profession has become a routine, while law industry makes merry at the cost of doctors. Natural complications, genuine poor prognosis, and death that occur after some treatment can be easily pinpointed to the doctors. Saviours are fighting the death as well as court cases to save themselves. In this case, Supreme Court was kind enough to give a favourable verdict, but not all doctors are lucky enough. Many suffer because of frivolous cases, poor medical governance and unwise decisions.

Doctor can’t be held guilty of negligence just because a patient died: Supreme Court

The bench said: ‘In spite of the treatment, if the patient had not survived, the doctors cannot be blamed as even the doctors with the best of their abilities cannot prevent the inevitable…’ A doctor can assure life to his patient but can only attempt to treat everyone to the best of his or her abilities, said the Supreme Court.

No doctor can assure life to his patient but can only attempt to treat everyone to the best of his or her abilities, said the Supreme Court on Tuesday, as it underscored that a doctor cannot be held guilty of medical negligence just because a patient has not survived.

“There is a tendency to blame the doctor when a patient dies or suffers some mishap. This is an intolerant conduct of the family members to not accept the death in such cases. The increased cases of manhandling of medical professionals who worked day and night without their comfort has been very well seen in this pandemic,” lamented a bench of justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian.

The bench added: “In spite of the treatment, if the patient had not survived, the doctors cannot be blamed as even the doctors with the best of their abilities cannot prevent the inevitable…The doctors are expected to take reasonable care but none of the professionals can assure that the patient would overcome the surgical procedures.”

It underlined that there must be sufficient material or medical evidence should be available before the adjudicating authority to arrive at the conclusion that death is due to medical negligence. “Every death of a patient cannot on the face of it be considered to be medical negligence,” said the bench.

The court said this while allowing an appeal filed by Bombay Hospital and Medical Research Centre against the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission’s order to pay ₹14.18 lakh to the family of one Dinesh Jaiswal, who died in June 1998 following unsuccessful surgeries of his gangrene in his limbs.

The family attributed Jaiswal’s demise to negligence in conducting surgeries, absence of the treating senior doctor, lack of operation theatre, and a broken-down angiography machine. The hospital, however, refuted all allegations, stating the best possible treatment by present medical professionals and within the resources available was provided.

In its 2010 judgment, the national consumer commission invoked the principle of “res ipsa loquitur” (mere occurrence of certain event can lead to an inference of negligence of the other side) to hold the hospital guilty of medical negligence.

But the top court on Tuesday set aside this judgment, noting the order suffered from legal as well as factual infirmities.

“It is a case where the patient was in serious condition impending gangrene even before admission to the hospital but even after surgery and re-exploration, if the patient does not survive, the fault cannot be fastened on the doctors as a case of medical negligence. It is too much to expect from a doctor to remain on the bed side of the patient throughout his stay in the hospital which was being expected by the complainant here. A doctor is expected to provide reasonable care which is not proved to be lacking in any manner in the present case,” held the bench.

The court underlined that there was never a stage when the patient was left unattended and mere fact that the main treating doctor had gone abroad cannot lead to an inference of medical negligence because the patient was admitted in a hospital having 20 specialists in multi-faculties.

“The patient was in a critical condition and if he could not survive even after surgery, the blame cannot be passed on to the hospital and the doctor who provided all possible treatment within their means and capacity,” it said.

On the aspect of delay in re-exploration after the initial surgery threw up complications due to non-availability of an operation theatre, the bench noted that it was only a matter of chance that all the four operation theatres of the hospital were occupied when the patient was to undergo surgery.

“We do not find that the expectation of the patient to have an emergency operation theatre is reasonable as the hospital can provide only as many operation theatres as the patient load warrants. If the operation theatres were occupied at the time when the operation of the patient was contemplated, it cannot be said that there is negligence on the part of the hospital,” it said.

The court added that a team of specialist doctors was available and also attended to the patient but “unfortunately, nature had the last word” and the patient breathed his last. “The family may not have coped with the loss of their loved one, but the hospital and the doctor cannot be blamed as they provided the requisite care at all given times,” it maintained.

The deceased’s family was paid ₹5 lakh as interim compensation by the top court in March 2010 when it had agreed to examine the hospital’s appeal. The bench said that this amount shall be treated as ex gratia payment to Jaiswal’s family and will not be recovered by the hospital.

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

December 4, 2021 0

Overuse of Antibiotics: Wrong analysis # Rebuttal Times of India

The Times of India today carries an editorial by Mr Sandeep Bansal on over prescription of antibiotics. Although there are few points which may be correct, but the article fails to highlight the basic reasons for the problem, which it was supposed to address.

The reason for failure to find the correct reasons can be the distant analysis. Someone working in London and trying to analyse the grass root problem of India may not be a perfect idea. People need to work at ground level to identify the real issues. Otherwise the analysis remains half-baked and gives a glimpse of the bias, which celebrities use commonly for gaining popularity by finding faults of doctors.

The overall picture has to be understood to identify real reasons and hence the proper solution to the problem. The correct steps taken would settle the issue; otherwise the analytical article would just remain a piece of paper and an matter of discussions for Arm chair preachers.

over prescription of antibiotics

The author failed to highlight the factors like easy availability of antibiotics. People can directly approach pharmacist and get whatever antibiotic they want. Pharmacist can sell whatever brand, doses and kind of antibiotic. The uncountable quacks, doctors of alternate medicines use all kind of antibiotics with impunity. Tons of antibiotics are consumed without any proper medical advice. Self-medication by people themselves, as it is easily available can’t be ignored as an important cause.

The reasons written by the author in TOI, actually constitute a minuscule fraction (5-10%), as far as use of antibiotics is concerned. By writing imperfect article, without knowing actual problems by a distant analysis, such article provides real misguidance rather than actual solutions to the problems.

Someone to do justice to such complex and important issues, one has to work at the place and be aware about real issues and ground problems. Otherwise it just remains a method to gain cheap popularity.

Sadly, in present era, people who do not treat patients, are away from truth, but they can influence the treatment of thousands of patients just by doing an ‘On Table’ analysis.

Wrong analysis, hence incorrect conclusions can lead to wrong decisions.

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

June 9, 2021 3

Doctor’s assault a medical emergency: Silence of authorities appalling

Attacks and assaults on doctors is an indicator of a lawless, uncivilized society, poor governance and broken health system. 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 projected single stray incident as an example and portrayed as generalization just to earn money and fame for themselves.

Hence by selective projection the blame for deficiencies of inept system, powerful industry, inadequate infrastructure and poor outcomes of serious diseases is shifted conveniently to doctors, who were unable to retaliate to the powerful media machinery.

The demonstration of the cleft that separated doctors from the actual overpowering controlling medical industry and administrators is not given, in order to maintain the prejudice with its dangerous bias towards doctors, who are in forefront and are visible to public.

Unwillingness or failure of government to prevent such attacks on doctors will have deep ramifications on future of medical profession. Role of doctor associations, parent institutes have been spineless and not encouraging.

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.

Doctors in remote area, where there are minimal medical facilities, doctors are at more risk than ever; they are at mercy of local goons with no protection.

Silence of lords is a death sentence to the medical profession as a whole.

Doctor assault is definitely a poor advertisement for the medical students, who want to be doctors or others who want to buy a private medical college seat by paying millions. Why should one become doctor or pay millions and bear risk of being beaten or killed, while doing such a stressful duty. People will be fearful to be doctors on a free seat, leave alone on the paid seat.

The People who rue the scarcity of good doctors, should now introspect, “do they deserve to have good doctors?”

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

Real story of a female doctor assault: serving an uncivilized society

June 2, 2021 0

Allopathy-Ayurveda debate: Media’s Misplaced priorities

The doctors, nurses and healthcare system have been relentlessly hauled over the coals for last one year and further battered emotionally by the cruel adverse media insinuations and taunts. At the peak of pandemic, when the powerful media should be discussing the core issues to control pandemic; issues like oxygen supply, vaccination and improving the health infrastructure, it has found more interest in a futile Allopathic-Ayurveda debate. Even if someone wants to start this kind of discussion, media should have shown more wisdom not to make it a dominant issue. There are more important, urgent and pressing issues where media can play a vital role.

By many media narratives, an impression is being fostered that doctors have made a mess and forfeited their moral right to treat. Suggestions of ineptitude were gleefully aired, causing demoralization of the warriors, who were immersed in the pool of Covid patients, trying to save them.

Their role should be as facilitators to help doctors to save more lives. One hospital death of out of millions saved, is projected as failure of doctors. They are so distant from the ground reality. To control the health system, media has a tendency to pretend that shortcomings in the patient care can be rectified by punishing the doctors and nurses.

Hence by selective projection the blame for deficiencies of inept system, powerful industry, inadequate infrastructure and poor outcomes of serious diseases is shifted conveniently to doctors, who were unable to retaliate to the powerful media machinery.

Media people, who have never treated a patient in their lifetime, sway opinion and treatments of the millions just by game of projection and perception. The news items and the content are guided by idea of creating sensation in a quest to sell news, be it a selective negativity. Such negative and selective projections are causing discouragement and demonization of the medical profession. It is the biggest tragedy to the medical profession in present era.

Normal treatment of the sick patients is being projected as gruesome atrocity, inflicted by doctors. Media could have done better in helping to take off spectacles fogged with bias against doctors and recognizing them as real saviours, just as deserving of justice.

National Media could have helped, had they fueled the right and constructive discussions. The TV channels could have countered the pandemic with better imagination, sobriety, and exemplary performance rather than creating sensation by cynical and futile debates, which are absolutely inappropriate at this time.

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