Whistle-blower Doctor who informed about Corona-sacked in Kerala


 

The ease with which doctors can be punished for doing even the right has finished the independence of the medical profession. The harassment of Chinese whistleblower doctor and now  sacking of the doctor who informed authorities about the coronavirus patient in Kerala are just an example of day to day troubles doctors are facing in every day working. These incidents are just the tip of the ice-berg. The evolving systems in the present era have made it difficult to deliver health care in the right way, as a consequence to routine harassment of doctors. Who will be the ultimate sufferer does not need an Einstein brain to predict.

 

 Kerala: Doctor who informed authorities about patient with coronavirus symptoms sacked by clinic.. Adoctor in Kerala on Tuesday alleged that she was sacked by the management ofthe private clinic she was working with for informing authorities about an NRI patient who reportedly declined to undergo the mandatory check for coronavirus. Dr Shinu Syamalan said the patient had come to the clinic recently with suspected symptoms of the virus. “When he was asked whether he had visited any foreign countries, he said he was coming from Qatar. But he had not reported to the health department about his foreign trip,” she said. When he was directed to inform about his foreign travel to the state health department, which has been monitoring people coming from abroad for the virus, he refused and said he was going back to Qatar, she told reporters. Concerned over the health of the person who had a high fever, Syamalan informed health and police authorities. “Officials who let the patient go abroad do not have any problem, but I have become jobless,” she posted on social media. 3/10/2020 Kerala: Doctor who informed authorities about patients with coronavirus symptoms sacked by the clinic – Times of India https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/kerala-doctor-who-tipped-authorities-about-patient-with-coronavirus-symptoms-sacked-by-clinic/articleshowprint/74564864.cms 2/2 She alleged she was sacked by the management of the clinic for reporting the matter to police and informing the public about the incident through social media and through television. “The argument of the management is that no one would turn up for treatment in the clinic if they come to know that it was visited by patients with suspected symptoms of Coronavirus,” she said. There was no immediate reaction from the management of the private health clinic. Official sources said the district medical officer (DMO) at Thrissur has complained to the collector against Shinu Syamalan accusing her of defaming health officials. Sources said the DMO informed the collector that health officials had tried to prevent the patient from traveling abroad immediately after getting information from Syamalan.

corona virus unmasks risk to doctor and nurses

21 occupational risk to doctor and nurses

Reverberations of the slap #CMRI-hospital-Kolkata;whether to choose medical profession?


The consequence and reverberations of the slap landed on the doctor, subsequent to the death of patient in CMRI hospital  Kolkata,    are  more than  routine.  Media and celebrities usually   have proudly  projected on screen and television that doctors can be beaten and assaulted, in case there are unexpected results or in case of dissatisfaction. But the news is viewed by medical community anxiously and is definitely a poor advertisement for younger generation to take medicine as profession. As incidents are widely publicized and masses following their “Reel Heroes” depicting violence against the doctor is seen as a routine and looked as an   easily do-able  adventure  due to  non-willingness of  authorities to take stringent action.

doctor assault is like corona virus

In such cases, everybody seems to get falsely satisfaction  by the fact that the doctor must have been the culprit, who was   unable to save the patient. Medical community becomes anxious as the fear of more brazen attacks as the incidents can trigger   many more. 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.

Doctors will be scared and avoid risky patients   or difficult surgeries may be avoided.

There can be complications or genuine poor prognosis. Even mistakes and errors are part of treatment.  The problem is that soft skills, deep knowledge and polite behavior is now been taken as weakness of doctors and not helping them   anymore. A notion  that   assaulting a doctor under emotional  outburst is taken as normal and should not be punished.

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’ body out of slumber.  Definitely such violence, if unabated will be   poor advertisement for   next generation to take medical profession as a first choice.

female doctor assault 

#Choosing-to-be-doctor in lawless society: A self inflicted disaster #uncivilized-society #Govt-apathy serving an uncivilized society

21 occupational  risk to doctor and nurses

‘Reel Heroes vs Real Heroes’ Naseeruddin Shah’s Daughter Assaulted Vet clinic staff


‘Reel Heroes’ are seen proudly hitting the doctors and health staff in films and earn money and accolades for “acting” so well. But in the process, they give a message to society that they can hit and assault doctors and health staff with impunity, in case the patients feel unsatisfied. Being right or wrong does not matter. Projecting only negativism about medical profession by ‘REEL Heroes’ has resulted in demoralization, belittling and consequent increasing assaults on doctors.

Working on same principles, there was an incident, where health staff of vet clinic was assaulted by kin of “REEL Heroes”. An impression is being created to assault health staff, when-ever there is some dissatisfaction, specially by ‘Reel actors against Real actors’.

A non-cognisable offence has been registered against Naseeruddin Shah’s daughter Heeba Shah for allegedly assaulting two employees of a veterinary clinic reported mid-day. The complaint was registered on 17 January. The NC has been registered under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation). The incident allegedly occured on 16 January and was captured in the clinic’s CCTV camera. The footage has been submitted to the Versova police, where the complaint has also been registered. The clinic is called The Feline Foundation. Heeba was helping out a friend, Supriya Sharma, by taking her two cats for sterilisation to the clinic.According to the report by mid-day, Heeba Shah entered the clinic in the afternoon at 2.50 pm on 16 January. She was asked to wait outside as surgery was on inside the clinic. After waiting for some time, Heeba allegedly got aggressive with her words and said, “Don’t you know who I am? How can you make me wait for so long outside without any assistance? How come no one helped me to get my cats’ cage out of the rickshaw on arrival?”As can be seen in the video, Heeba also physically assaulted the staff by pushing and slapping the person. She can also be seen yelling at the staff.

Reel heroes or Real heroes-Media projection

Self-proclaimed social activist ‘the Hero’ tring to espouse the cause of hapless patients, by projecting doctors as deceitful. In the process of self-projection as saviours of innocent patients, the ‘hero’ presents doctors as villains of the fleece tragedy as a generalization. Whole profession is painted with the same brush by ‘Reel Hero’, thereby creates a wave of huge mistrust among masses against ‘Real Heroes’ and true saviours.

Unfortunately masses trusted more on the person, who was dancing to entertain them rather than a doctor who was awake at night, trying to save lives. Sadly, in an era of media dominance, ‘Reel heroes’ get projected as ‘Real heroes’. The real become invisible behind the glittery mist. Masses fail to envisage the bigger real picture and are grossly mistaken by another projected story.

The old adage “All that glitters is not gold” is particularly relevant in current era of media domination, where media projection shapes the perception and may defy the reality. Media has dominated our lives and can sway the opinion formation of masses.

Media projections create a mirage of illusional glitter wherein there is blurring of real life from the reel life of heroes. The larger-than-life unreal persona of the celebrities on screen looks too charming and sometimes becomes undeniable and dominates mind of masses. The super-human characters played out in films and television appear to be too real. The problem arises when the imaginary characters of the reel life stories are emulated in real life. The naivety of masses to perceive the projected character as the real one goes beyond a reasonable thought process and imagination.

These roles played in films are not really act of inspiration in real life as the actual purpose accomplished in the end of a movie is entertainment of society and business for themselves. In present era, more people will choose to watch the criminal trial of a celebrity rather than the biography of a truly great human being.

At the best, a particular projected character (and not individual acting star) may be a role model. An actor or super star, is simply doing his work of “acting” in the end. This work of acting may bring an entertainment of few hours at the most.

One should not stray away from the wisdom to choose between what we consume merely for our entertainment or face in real life. One needs to differentiate between rationale truth behind the celebrity gimmicks in the media and exaggerated sensationalism. Sensation created merely for a commercial successful venture should not be allowed to overpower the judgments of real life.

But the problem starts, when these false perceptions created merely by a projected glimmer takes the shimmer away from the real worthy. The real professionals and people who are worthy of glory become invisible behind the glittery mist, a haze, the unreal and the unhelpful in real life.

A soldier contributes to our society much more in real terms. Even a junior doctor saves many lives in a day in emergencies as compared to work of a superstar in films. A teacher, nurse or scientist have contribution which is more fruitful to our generation. The reel actor merely imitates the real life lived and actual work done by real heroes like soldier, doctor or teacher. Someone who only acts and behaves like one, is respected and paid thousand times or more than ‘the real one’.

In reality, people need more than mere entertainment, reel role models and actors in their real lives. Unfortunately, reel projection for purpose of entertainment is more easier to enact and has become more profitable than actual performance in real life.

Risk to health workers working in remote areas (specially-Women; Doctors & Nurses)


 

Often  an issue is raised that doctors and nurses  are hesitant to go to  remote places.  Brutal rape and murder of Hyderabad vet doctor  is an evidence of the  dangers lurking because of  preying eyes   and lack of security, specially to women health workers (doctors and nurses).

 A  ghastly  incident that highlights the dangers associated with entering unfamiliar places, unsecured environment  and a dark world with  no one to listen to   heart wrenching cries of the unassuming victim. With no serious policing activities, it may turn out to be unthinkable nightmare.

       But  the lady doctor  went  to a place where transport was difficult and paid the price. A  women  is being  posted to an area where transport and security  were not provided and thereby  assigned  an unsafe posting.

         Doctor   should consider these factors before joining at unsafe places.

          Problem is that the system does not take into account the risk to health workers, their convenience  and  family obligations. Their difficulty in transport,  the security issues, providing basic amenities are  not considered important by  administrators.

  The system  that failed to  provide proper transport and security is the  real culprit.

 Till  some one  puts a question to  the  system and makes them accountable, there will be  more cases of this kind.

  Had  the  deceased  not been  a doctor, or from  some  other profession,  there was no compulsion  for her to go to remote areas.

        Lack of medical facilities  and infrastructure add to the  risk, as the health workers are held responsible for  all the short comings. Not infrequently they become the punching bags for the  inept system and infra structure deficiencies.     Females doctors and nurses are at greater  risk for obvious reasons and strangely there are no special provisions made for their security. Usually they are allotted a place where  they have to fend for themselves.  If one thinks it seriously, risk is even  greater than anticipated.

   Women -Doctors & Nurses- need to take precautions and save themselves in view of system insensitivity.

 

21  occupational-risk factors – for doctor and nurses

Real story of female doctor assault- serving uncivilized society

Work life balance problem for female doctor and nurses

Disadvantage of being a doctor

Who killed Hyderabad  Vet Doctor? Answer : “OUR SYSTEM”


 

      A vet doctor  was subjected to   brutal rape and death in Hyderabad.  An incident that filled  our hearts with  grief  and  pain.

Who are culprits? The four men, caught and will be given punishment. But are they alone the culprits?

       No; there are culprits who will not be even named. Our system is the biggest culprit.             

 Often  an issue is raised that doctors do not go to  remote places.

 But  the lady doctor  went  to a place where transport was difficult and paid the price. A female is posted to an area where transport and security  were not provided. She was given an unsafe posting with no security  and no transport.   The person who gave her  such posting is also the  culprit

         The system  that failed to  provide proper transport and security is the  real culprit. Till  some one  puts a question to  the  system and makes them accountable, there will be  more cases of this kind.

        May  the departed soul rest in peace. 

       Doctor   should consider these factors before joining at unsafe places.

 

 female  doctor  assault ; serving uncivilized society

Young veterinarian murdered, set on fire near Hyderabad after her vehicle broke down

The victim, who had left her house in Shadnagar for Kolluru village to attend her duties at a veterinary hospital, called her sister on Wednesday night to inform that her two-wheeler had broken down while returning home.

A young veterinarian has been murdered by unknown persons, while her burnt body was found on Thursday in Shadnagar town close to the Telangana state capital, police said.The charred body of the victim was found at Chatanpally bridge near Shadnagar town in the Ranga Reddy district.The victim, who had left her house in Shadnagar for Kolluru village to attend her duties at a veterinary hospital, called her sister on Wednesday night to inform that her two-wheeler had broken down while returning home.She told her sister that she was feeling scared and that somebody had offered to help her and taken her vehicle for repair. When her family members tried to contact her later, her mobile phone was found to be switched off.Police said the charred body of a female, aged between 20-25 years, was found near the bridge. Sridhar Reddy identified victim’s body as being that of his daughter.Senior police officers rushed to the scene for launching their investigations and were scanning CCTV footage from a nearby toll gate for clues.It may be recalled that in another gruesome incident earlier this month in the same district a man burnt alive a woman revenue official inside her office near here, but in the process also suffered critical burn injuries himself. The shocking incident occurred in the Abdullapurmet Tahsil Office in Ranga Reddy district on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

 

 

 

Myths and facts about ICU ventilator: small boat in sea storm


 

 Some one who is drowning, a small boat can  save his life, till sea storm settles or the victim reaches a safe land. The boat will not settle the sea storm, but enough to save a person from catastrophe. In reality, ventilator is the invention, which should be worshiped. But contrarily, due to wrong projections and misguided perceptions, it has been hated despite saving lives.

     Although doctors and ventilators are in a similar situation, projected in a wrong way,  hated in spite of doing good work and saving lives. They are hated and despised, despite the only ones of help in life and death situations. Following are few myths and fact about ventilator.

  1. Myth : Once on ventilator, patients do not survive: common myth is that  once the patient is placed on ventilator, he will not survive.  Human body,  when  gets severely  diseased or  under stress, heart and lungs need to be supported for saving the life, till ailment    So, when the battle for saving live is ongoing, almost all the patients will have to be placed on the ventilator. It is a last ditch attempt made to save the patient’s life. However when the patients do not survive people feel that it’s the ventilator which has caused death, rather than a rational thought about severe disease as a cause.

             In reality, it is the severity of disease and possibility of death, when ventilator is required. It is necessary to support life.

  1. Myth : Ventilator is a modality for mere prolongation of life: every disease has a spectrum. Every disease can progress  from a reversible  to irreversible state. As an effort is ongoing while waiting to reverse the process, the patient will need  ventilator to sustain life. Unless the disease reaches a stage of  irreversibility,  ventilator is indispensible  for an  absolute need to maintain life. Since in serious condition, it is an uncertain prognosis.  In retrospect, combined with application of an average wisdom, the time of uncertainty and institution of ventilator   can be  interpreted  as a mistake.  As the whole exercise is labeled as futile and expensive by relatives.   it’s a grey area and the  negative thoughts are fuelled because of retrospective wisdom in hindsight.  The real prognosis can not be predicted in real time.

In reality, Ventilator is a machine which just  supports respiration and not  responsible for  heart beating. Therefore it   buys time for healing and treatment of primary disease.

  1. Myth : Ventilator will cause death:

one can understand this simple logic on the basis that patients are placed on dialysis when kidneys fail. Patients are placed in cast when bones are fractured for a fixed predefined period of time. Similarly patient is placed on ventilator when lungs fail. Ventilator is used till the time  lungs recover and become fully functional.

                        In reality; Risk is because of disease, which needs ventilator and not vice versa. Ventilator is a friendly machine which helps people who have failed lungs.

  1. Myth : Doctors and hospitals keep dead patients on ventilator for financial gains

Fact:  placing patient on ventilator is a very critical decision, taken in best interest of patient to buy time, to so as to treat the disease.  A patient needing on ventilator is actually so sick, that not  instituting ventilator will risk the patient’s life. Knowing all these facts, doctors take a decision to keep the patients on ventilator.

         As once the patient is on ventilator,  it is a stress for the doctor to take the patient off the ventilator. As such ventilator is a SANCTUM SANCTORUM life saving machine,  to be used only in life and death situations.

 

  1. Myth : Its miracle if the patient placed on ventilator survives.

Given the fact that placing the patient on ventilator on scientific facts. There are clear indications  for putting the patient on ventilator.   A much larger patients put on ventilator are actually saved and go home.

Fact:  Everyday thousands of patients are placed on ventilator and sent home to lead a normal life: Any patient who is given general anesthesia is placed on ventilator in the operation theater and then taken off the ventilator at the end of the surgery. In these cases patients are placed on ventilator so as patient can be put to deep sleep (called anesthesia) during which surgery on desired part can be carried out. Soon after the surgery patient are taken off the ventilator and soon thereafter discharged for home after few days of healing.

 

  1. Myth :Doctors place patients on ventilator at their own will:

Fact:   there are scientific parameters which decide when the patient should be placed on the ventilator and when the patient should be taken off the ventilator. So the decision to place the patient is scientific and based on objective parameters.

  Contrary to this popular myth, it is a compulsion for the doctor to put patient on ventilator to prevent death in serious situations.  Doctors are usually thinking several steps ahead of lay person about medical science.

  1. Myth :All patients placed on ventilator are unconscious:

 

Fact: this is not necessary. Usually patients are sedated  for their comfort.  they can be made to walk, write and even perform small tasks when on ventilator, depending upon their lung condition.

  Patients are also put on ventilator in case of airway failure when unable to protect their airway for various reasons. Another reason why patients are placed on ventilator is inability of the patients to protect his or her airway. Conscious and alert patients can swallow normally formed mouth secretions.  When patients consciousness level is dulled the ability of the patient to protect his airway is lost or compromised. This causes secretions from mouth to enter into the lungs trough the airway i.e. trachea causing infections in the lungs. The only way to prevent this and protect the patient’s lungs is to place a tube in his airway and then place them on the ventilator.

 

  1. Myth: Patients can be kept alive by placing on the ventilator:

General masses  have a feeling that patient can be kept alive by keeping them on the ventilator. Even  a dead person can be kept alive by placing on the ventilator, which is not true.

In reality:  It is machine used only for breathing and not heart and brain.

  1. Myth : Ventilating the dead patients:

    this is a common allegation on medical profession.  This is no truth in this projected and perceived hearsay.

       Facts: Assumptions are based on thoughts of lay persons. Patients on ventilator, may look like dead, because of the disease, sedation and paralyzed by drugs. But their heart and brain are working, so they can not be declared dead.

    If there is some incident, it  needs to be proved by medical personnel. In reality, it can  be a very rare and remote  exception. These untrue projection are creating lots of mistrust about life saving machine.

The problem is about correct projection and  majority of people without  knowledge of medical science  do not  even  know the large  number of lives  been saved by the ventilators.

In nutshell: serious conditions  and life threatening situations need higher technical interventions, to save a life. If correct projections are made, ventilators are life saving machines.

About ventilator

History of ventilator

Pay millions to be a doctor?: welcome to “ring on fire” #NEET


Being a doctor has become a disadvantage in itself, thanks to our media and celebrities projecting the saviors  in bad light. They are now seen as harbingers of death. Morale of doctors has been at rock bottom and community is devastated.  A society that believes more in fairy tales told by “Reel heroes” has turned prejudiced and preposterous towards “Real  heroes”.  The medical profession reeks of desperation and desolation with apathy from government, indifference from courts and silence of human right commission to salvage them from decrepit state. At the best, they have been reduced to punching bags and scape-goats for inept medical systems or cheap labour to industry.

Problems faced by doctors are not only innumerable but are also so exceedingly complex and diverse that they are difficult to be analysed. It is common to listen doctors discussing these problems whenever one of these crop up. If so many 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. The challenges in this profession are too many and difficult to analyse.
  1.     Medical courses are Comparatively lengthy and expansive study course and difficult training with slave like duties: that I have discussed in one of my previous article on “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. They have to just flow with system ultimately.
 3. Hostile environment for doctors to begin: Suddenly young, meritorious and bright children who came out of training 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 prejudiced  beliefs of society.

  1. Difficult start of career of doctors: 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 half treats them as cheats and dishonest. Their work is seen with suspicion and often criticized.
    5.The fear and anxiety about the actual treatment,  favorable and unfavorable prognosis of patient, keeps mind of a doctor occupied.
    6. Doctors are blamed for all malaise:The society gets biased because of the media reports and some celebrity talking glib without proper understanding of inept medical system , administrative failure and complexity of medical industry.  These lead to formation of generalized sentiment against all doctors and are then unfortunately blamed for all the malaise in the entire healthcare system.
    7.Doctor’s 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 to doctor 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 and interventionists get radiation exposure. Because of difficult working conditions, some doctors are prone to depression, anxiety and may start on substance abuse.  21 risks to doctor 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  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. Unfortunately, if 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.
In these court cases, the doctor is at disadvantage since his decision which is now being questioned was taken at that time in good faith using all his wisdom. The decision in retrospect may not turn out to be the best one, but later retrospective analysis along with wisdom of hindsight over many years, may label it as faulty if a fault-finding approach is used. This along with general sentiment and sympathy with sufferer makes medical profession a sitting duck for punishments and lawsuits. Even if the doctor is proved to be not guilty, his harassment and tarnishing of reputation will be full and almost permanent. No doctor has time to pursue such things all the time. Even if such events don’t happen to everyone, the very fear of such possible scenarios and their possible complications always lurks in the back of their mind.
11. Physical assault , routine instances of verbal abuse and threat  happen for no fault of theirs. Many become punching bags for the inept medical system and invisible medical industry. The threat of physical assault is quite real as well. Recently, even female doctors have not been spared by mobs. Silence of prominent social people, celebrities and society icons on this issue is a pointer towards increasingly uncivilized mindset of society.  Even female doctors  are being assaulted.
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: I have seen zero fee and fixed commission ads on television by lawyers in health systems in certain developed countries. 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 disproportionately 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. Additionally there may be bullying by certain administrative systems at places, who use pressure tactics to get their own way.

With so many adversaries, the situation is like sailing a small boat in a tornado.
At present, with this mind-set, the losers are the doctors and medical profession. But the society should be able to foresee its overall loss in the long run if these practices continue.

 

Burden of Mistrust: A Curse generated by media for medical profession


Every news item presented on TV about medical profession creates an anxiety in minds of doctors. As almost always, these  are  cooked for media business to  create sensations. Medical profession can not fight with media power and remains  at receiving end always.  Painful burden of mistrust against them grows further.

News article or TV programs are created so convincing  and so capable of  sway public opinion against  doctors. while the fears in the minds of patients  is not without basis, but risk to life of patient does not really comes from doctors, but it is from mistrust generated from inexorable creep  of media into our lives.

Even the most enlightened humans have biases. Media by negative publicity enhances and multiplies negative bias and propagates mistrust, beyond reasonable limits. These negative and uncertain prejudiced feeling in the mind of patients is difficult to identified , and more difficult to correct and treat .

Prejudice against doctors 

While the news being aired, gave an impression like a judgment  is passed, which is unable to take into account, the large good work being done by the medical community at large. As if the treatment done and life saved every minute is of no consequence.  Such judgments are not based on any objective measurable data, and therefore they are highly susceptible to human biases. Unfortunately, a vicious cycle of mistrust and misfortune and more bias is created and   there is no circuit breaker or any assessment of the  mistrust thus  promoted, whether it was good for society  or  patients. It can be at the best a late or remote  afterthought by few wise ones.

Growing awareness about risk of medical interventions or its limitations, has not slowed the rapid ingestion of toxic negativity into the fabric of society. We are living in times, where media  tends to influence what people see, hear, feel and buy. Spread of negative news rapidly spreading into nooks and crannies of minds of masses, but in the guise of magical optimization of medical profession and treatment. Masses rely on the one example presented before them, without knowing it was one of millions, a rarity rather than routine, without factoring in the biases and problems underlying that one patient. In majority of such cases, biases are hidden, hindsight analysis are baked, submerged and woven into an emotional fabric that is wrapped around  business under the banner of  better medical services optimization.

These  sensational news, promoting mistrust against medical profession,  if unchecked will put lives of patient more at risk than real benefit to society. People will suffer because of  a relationship of mistrust with doctors, will refrain from seeking treatment. But still no one will know that it is  “a curse  generated by media”.

Silence of  REEL Heroes: #Aamir-Khan, when REAL Heroes  #doctor/nurses are thrashed #NRS-Hospital


                    When  examples of stray incidents were portrayed as general phenomenon on television and a great mistrust was created, the existing gap further  widened between  doctor – patient, the REEL hero #Aamir-khan got a great applause. Society believed  and trusted  the stars, who entertained , enacted stories and danced to make them happy, keeping them entertained. Masses believed easily, what  Reel hero, while entertaining  told them and not trusted the doctor, who was awake at nights to save their  lives. REEL heroes earned name,  fame and money  by unilateral poor projection of doctors in filmy stories, right or wrong or just stray incidents. Larger good work and hard work of doctors was of no consideration. Sad  era for medical profession, where reel heroes, who merely act are trusted more than real doers. Now when doctors are being nearly killed, just because  for being on the bedside of patients, the silence of REEL Heroes,  proves the  hollow applause, they have generated for themselves.

 NRS hospital 

Reblogged: #Soldier/Nurse/doctor vs Filmy superstar: Reel Heroes or Real Heroes. what does the   society Need/desire/deserve?

The old adage  “All that glitters is not Gold” is particularly relevant  in current era of media domination where media  projection shapes the perception and may defy  the  reality.  Media has dominated our lives and can sway the  opinion formation of masses.  Written media, television, social media  can collectively influence the mass opinion.

Society, in general, needs to be wise  enough  to realize the importance   of  getting  rid of  these blinders in  real life . One such factor that causes an illusional mist in the  thoughts of masses is projection in films. They create a mirage of illusional glitter wherein  there is blurring of real life from the reel life of heroes. The larger-than-life unreal persona of the celebrities on screen looks too charming and sometimes becomes undeniable and dominates mind of masses. The super-human characters played out in films appear to be real. The problem arises when the imaginary characters of the reel life stories are emulated in real life. Individuals as projected character fill in  peoples’ imagination and are perceived as real and   becomes ingrained in mind. The naivety of masses to perceive the projected character as real one  goes beyond a reasonable thought process and imagination. 

These roles played in films are  not  really act of   inspiration  in real life  as  the actual purpose accomplished in the end of a movie  is entertainment of society and business for themselves. A recent  candid  admission  by the actor # Mr-Irrfan-Khan  that film stars should  not be role models  was impressive (Hindustan times) .

   At the best, a particular projected character  (and  not individual acting star) may be a  role model. An actor or super star, is simply doing his work of “acting” in  the end. This work of acting may bring an entertainment of few hours at the most.

One  cannot stray away from the wisdom to  choose between what we consume merely for our entertainment and  what we believe or face in real life. One needs to differentiate between rationale truth behind the celebrity gimmicks in the media and exaggerated sensationalism. Sensation created merely for a commercial successful venture should not be allowed to overpower the judgments of real life.

But the problem starts, when these false perceptions created merely   by a projected  glimmer    takes the shimmer  away from the real worthy. The real  professionals and people who are worthy of glory become invisible behind  the glittery mist, a haze, which is unreal and unhelpful in real life.

   A  soldier contributes to our society much more in real terms. Even a junior doctor saves many lives in a  day in emergencies as compared to work of a superstar in films.  A teacher, nurse or scientist have contribution which is more fruitful to our generation. Also the scientists, who contribute immensely and bring about the  real change in our lives. Their contribution is huge to our society and much more than doing just acting on screen. The reel actor merely imitates the real life lived and actual work done by real heroes like soldier, doctor or teacher. Someone who only acts and  behaves like one, is respected and paid thousand times or more than the real one. In reality, people need  more than mere entertainment and reel role models and actors in their real lives.

 

Compare the trivial  amount of  remuneration, fame  and respect the real worker  gets  as compared to the film stars, who merely imitate their actions. Reel projection for purpose  of entertainment is more easier to enact and more profitable  than actual performance  in real life.  It is easier to become a reel hero, as it requires little hard work or just connections to get an opportunity.  Some one can be a reel hero just  by  dynastic factor  easily. Hard work is definitely required but that may or may not be prerequisite.

 

Even good films  may raise some social problem, which everyone knows already and offer no practical solution in reality. Therefore what good it brings to the public, beyond entertainment, is any body’s guess. The persona, actors usually  project on screen, may actually be far from his or her real personality. In most of cases, what he does in movies and reel life, is actually away from  possibility of real life . But strangely in present era, people lose sight of what is mere perception. It is clearly a story, tale, a drama, a myth and is not the real identity of the people, we see on-screen.

 

 

In present era, real contributions by people, who are saviours of human life and  the real heroes, remain unappreciated. People are so besotted by  fame and money that they fail to appreciate the sacrifices made by real heroes. Filmy super hero  just imitates  a doctor, soldier,  dacoit or a street hooligan and just pretends to be one on the screen.

But there are  real life heroes that exist around us. Doctors awake at night saving lives every minute or soldier in freezing cold are worthy  of more respect and are real heroes.  And it is up to the society  to look beyond the superficial and reel story, and focus on the real life actors. There has to be an true effort to make, respect and appreciate  real heroes.

Point to  ponder  is that whether society needs people  just  acting  ke   doctors,  soldiers  and not the  actual and real ones, who saves lives. Does Society need  only  entertainment, because respect  which is paid to someone who is  just  an   actor, is  not extended to real doctors, soldiers or other altruistic professions.

 A reel hero who acts like a soldier, is famous  and richer and than the  actual soldier, who dies unnamed and in penury.   Children of today’s times will strive  to become, who is worshiped and paid respect  by society and  therefore will prefer  to become reel heroes.

 

A  society truly needs the real people, who work and act for them, more than just entertainment. It will need total change in attitude of people to deconstruct the perceptions, which are based on mere projections and are away from reality.

It is time to recreate and worship real heroes, who have become invisible behind the glittery mist.

Society needs to envisage the bigger real picture, and should not be mistaken for another projected story.                          

The perception of the projection will decide, what does the   society actually  need- or desire-or deserve , “Reel Heroes or Real Heroes”.

Blatant cruelty & #oppression-of-doctors: Re-entering Hammurabi Era (1750BC)


Every doctor knows that some thing is really wrong happening against the profession.  Not only every day minor irritants but there  are recurring episodes of blatant cruelty against doctors. The whole profession is being criticized openly in the garb of stray incidences or in cases of genuine poor prognosis. Each and every doctors  wants  to react.  But no one knows  really “ how to do it”. There is scant  unity  amid this chaotic problem. The community has been broken  and pushed to behave as single suffering   individuals. whatever way  they choose to react ,  the slightest reaction may  invite the ire of many unknown people, may be mighty and revengeful.  

          By showing cruelty and being revengeful towards doctors , our society is in a way re-entering the realm of an ancient medical regulatory  system, Hammurabi Era (1750BC). Certain aggrieved health care consumers may welcome a move toward harsh penalties in the name of justice and simply for revenge but we need to keep in mind the  poor outcomes in complex diseases, limitation of science and of course the idiosyncrasies of the human body.  Fear factors and  Impact  of present legal complexities,  on doctors  is  already on a par with that of  Hammurabi  era.

Then why  doctors  be  made a punching bag for venting out emotions of the bereaved relatives. Nothing and really nothing can justify this barbaric act. Emotions should not be allowed to take such a demonic form.

This is simply jungle raj, goonism and  expression of a most  uncivilized kind of society, which simply cannot be excused by any sort of reasoning. The incident is being  protested by the professional bodies as is the routine and after few day things normalized for everybody else except that terrorized doctor .  

If the courts, the commission for women’s rights, and the human rights commission are maintaining silence, is it because the rights of doctors were never clearly defined and outlined.  The duties of a doctor have always been enumerated but the rights have never been discussed.

           Human rights of doctor and medical community have been grossly violated by physical assaults. It is painful to see that the authorities that are supposed to take action have maintained a silence all these years about this issue.

What is role of human rights commission, if rights of a hard working community like doctors are violated and what is it supposed to do? I really fail to understand what else will it take to shake them out of their stupor ?

NRS Hospital Violence

Hammurabi era

female doctor assault

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