Aamir Khan in one of his Satyameva Jayate Episodes, brought to light the frail and fraudulent Medical system India. He also showed some statistics about the greedy doctors in the country, who are solely interested in making money from vulnerable patients. Immediately after this episode, there was a huge outcry from the medical fraternity, demanding an apology from Aamir. Well, I see no good reason why the doctors had to go bananas over Aamir's comment, instead of being conscience-stricken about themselves or their colleagues.
I never thought I would be writing this blog post against doctors in India, until I had a bitter experience consulting a senior doctor in a top hospital in chennai.
Last month, my 4 year old daughter, all of a sudden, started to clear her throat frequently. After medicating her with home medicines like pepper, honey, turmeric combo for a week, I saw no improvement in her. Though she had no fever, no cold or chest congestion, she kept on clearing her throat. So, I consulted my paediatrician who said it might be due to dust allergy and prescribed an allergy medicine. Unfortunately, the medicine didn't have any effect and the problem worsened that she started clearing her throat for every 5-10 seconds.
I revisited my paediatrician and he told me it might be just a 'Mannerism' that she might have developed newly and asked me to ignore. However, he asked me to get a ENT(Ear, Nose, Throat) specialist's opinion on this problem. As I was pretty sure that this problem might not be due to any mannerism, I consulted the senior ENT in the same hospital.
The ENT briefly checked her nose, throat and asked me get an
'Naso Pharynx' X-Ray done immediately. After a quick look at the X-Ray, he said, there is a small growth in the nose that might cause this problem. When I asked him whether her throat is fine, he said that her throat is red and swollen too! That is, he said, she suffered from tonsillitis! He prescribed some medicines and asked me to visit a week later. In fact, I was shocked, because I found 'no redness' in her throat till that minute.
I put my daughter on the medication prescribed by the ENT and revisited him as there was no improvement in her even after a week. The moment the ENT heard that there is no improvement, he said, the tonsillitis and a small growth in the nose is causing the problem and he needs to SURGICALLY remove them.
As I feared a surgery, I politely asked him if the problem could be treated with just medicines. He got impatient and started giving examples of new-born babies undergoing open-heart surgeries these days. He also mocked that I'm so old-fashioned to ask for regular treatments! He also insisted that If my daughter is covered by medical insurance, the surgery is FREE! He hastened me to get some blood tests done the next day and get her admitted within two days, otherwise the problem would go irreversible. That means, according to him, she can be never cured of her illness if we delay the SURGERY! I sat there still for few minutes all confused hearing all his mumbo-jumbos. And, I was not to the least bit convinced about the need of a surgery here. None of my further questions to him were responded properly. He, in fact, was getting rude.
Note: On one side, I see a 4 year old girl who has no fever, no cold and no symptom of tonsillitis or any associated breathing difficulty; On the other side, I see an inhumane, unprofessional, greedy and ethically 'Nil' medico who wants to cut open her throat and nose for no good medical reason!
Later in the week, one of my daughter's teachers referred me to a Paediatric ENT. I rushed to her with all the reports and my luck, the ENT was very gentle and truly professional. She did a quick and systematic diagnosis of the problem on the spot and said there was nothing to worry. She also said it might be due to some allergy. Thankfully, by god's grace, her medicines worked and my daughter is alright now.
Well, I must admit that Chennai has some of the best breed of doctors compared to other Indian cities and I'm proud and happy about that. At the same time, there are some out there, like the senior ENT doctor I visited first! What's even more saddening is that, such doctors are employed in some of the top Hospitals in the city.
The greedy ENT is just one example. There are doctors who advocate Blood tests, Scans, X-Rays and finally surgery for almost every simple illness. What's driving these bunch of doctors crazy?
Not all doctors are bad. There are wonderful and kind doctors abound. But, as a commoner at the receiving end, we have to be more cautious in separating the sheep out of the goat and ensure to keep a list of good doctors in the city. The basic assumption by a lot of us "This won't happen to me'. Yes, optimism is good, but only to a certain limit. It's better to be more alert beforehand than going through an ordeal.
Let's not fall prey to greedy, unprofessional and inexperienced doctors. Because, we are not their guinea pigs to undergo unwanted tests and trials.
I never thought I would be writing this blog post against doctors in India, until I had a bitter experience consulting a senior doctor in a top hospital in chennai.
Last month, my 4 year old daughter, all of a sudden, started to clear her throat frequently. After medicating her with home medicines like pepper, honey, turmeric combo for a week, I saw no improvement in her. Though she had no fever, no cold or chest congestion, she kept on clearing her throat. So, I consulted my paediatrician who said it might be due to dust allergy and prescribed an allergy medicine. Unfortunately, the medicine didn't have any effect and the problem worsened that she started clearing her throat for every 5-10 seconds.
I revisited my paediatrician and he told me it might be just a 'Mannerism' that she might have developed newly and asked me to ignore. However, he asked me to get a ENT(Ear, Nose, Throat) specialist's opinion on this problem. As I was pretty sure that this problem might not be due to any mannerism, I consulted the senior ENT in the same hospital.
The ENT briefly checked her nose, throat and asked me get an
'Naso Pharynx' X-Ray done immediately. After a quick look at the X-Ray, he said, there is a small growth in the nose that might cause this problem. When I asked him whether her throat is fine, he said that her throat is red and swollen too! That is, he said, she suffered from tonsillitis! He prescribed some medicines and asked me to visit a week later. In fact, I was shocked, because I found 'no redness' in her throat till that minute.
I put my daughter on the medication prescribed by the ENT and revisited him as there was no improvement in her even after a week. The moment the ENT heard that there is no improvement, he said, the tonsillitis and a small growth in the nose is causing the problem and he needs to SURGICALLY remove them.
As I feared a surgery, I politely asked him if the problem could be treated with just medicines. He got impatient and started giving examples of new-born babies undergoing open-heart surgeries these days. He also mocked that I'm so old-fashioned to ask for regular treatments! He also insisted that If my daughter is covered by medical insurance, the surgery is FREE! He hastened me to get some blood tests done the next day and get her admitted within two days, otherwise the problem would go irreversible. That means, according to him, she can be never cured of her illness if we delay the SURGERY! I sat there still for few minutes all confused hearing all his mumbo-jumbos. And, I was not to the least bit convinced about the need of a surgery here. None of my further questions to him were responded properly. He, in fact, was getting rude.
Note: On one side, I see a 4 year old girl who has no fever, no cold and no symptom of tonsillitis or any associated breathing difficulty; On the other side, I see an inhumane, unprofessional, greedy and ethically 'Nil' medico who wants to cut open her throat and nose for no good medical reason!
Later in the week, one of my daughter's teachers referred me to a Paediatric ENT. I rushed to her with all the reports and my luck, the ENT was very gentle and truly professional. She did a quick and systematic diagnosis of the problem on the spot and said there was nothing to worry. She also said it might be due to some allergy. Thankfully, by god's grace, her medicines worked and my daughter is alright now.
Well, I must admit that Chennai has some of the best breed of doctors compared to other Indian cities and I'm proud and happy about that. At the same time, there are some out there, like the senior ENT doctor I visited first! What's even more saddening is that, such doctors are employed in some of the top Hospitals in the city.
The greedy ENT is just one example. There are doctors who advocate Blood tests, Scans, X-Rays and finally surgery for almost every simple illness. What's driving these bunch of doctors crazy?
- MBBS course and further studies in medicine are all priced heavily-high. These doctors want to get back the money they paid for their studies in no time flat!
- 'Nil' knowledge and experience in diagnosing the problem by touch or feel or other basic, simplistic and systematic approaches. They resort to technologically advanced machines and tests to identify and root out the problems, even the 'not-so-serious' diseases!
- Constant pressure from the hospital honchos, Big bosses and medical entrepreneurs to perform well and bring money to the hospital they are employed in.
Not all doctors are bad. There are wonderful and kind doctors abound. But, as a commoner at the receiving end, we have to be more cautious in separating the sheep out of the goat and ensure to keep a list of good doctors in the city. The basic assumption by a lot of us "This won't happen to me'. Yes, optimism is good, but only to a certain limit. It's better to be more alert beforehand than going through an ordeal.
Let's not fall prey to greedy, unprofessional and inexperienced doctors. Because, we are not their guinea pigs to undergo unwanted tests and trials.
