A very important news item unfortunately got shadowed by all the insertions that followed in the newspaper relating to the demise of Manna Dey. I had made an earlier post stating my condolences for one of the greatest singers of all time. However, a day after, I think it is time to place my views on the news item I wish to highlight. The news item relates to the compensation awarded to Dr. Kunal Saha in Anuradha Saha death case where there was allegation of medical negligence. The monetary amount is not that important, since I personally think such amount was miniscule considering the agony faced by Dr. Saha, post-death of his wife and thereafter. Dr. Saha virtually fought against a tide - a tide of ridicule and non-cooperation from his former peers and seniors as well as many from the media and outside world who felt Dr. Sahas move to be motivated and he has been acting as a front for various insurance companies, thereby actually ushering in a change quite uncalled for in the medical system. But at the end he won and this judgement. even though not being hailed as a pathbreaking one by the media and all and sundry, I personally feel such a judgement is indeed a pathbreaking one, which will materially alter the application of specified medical protocol and make the doctors more responsible in treating patients. The advent of private medical care is still in its nascent stage, virtually two decades old or may be a little more. Prior to that there were indeed private medical clinics in the form of nursing homes, but they did not cater to the large mass in general, at the most it catered to a niche class, or to those whose access to Government medical care failed to do the needful. Such mass adoption of private medical care became the order of the day when our economy adopted the tenets of globalisation. But as the capitalistic approach is still half baked, such private medical agencies ruled the roost with scant regard for established medical protocols, and, hence, patients were left at the mercy of doctors. This judgement, for the first time, acknowledged the element of vicarious liability, which is a norm rather than an exception in the developed world. In those countries, the hospitals and healthcare facilities works as a team rather than depending on the individual reputation of doctors. This judgement will also help doctors taking due care of the patients, and not leaving them at the mercy of God, once they are done with the surgery and money received from them. However, this will also have a flip side too. Unscrupulous elements might try to deny a doctor his legitimate fees with intimidation and threat of litigation, but these are natural casualties of a system fraught with inadequate safeguards. However, with all the safeguards and the increasing level of awareness we are talking about, the crux of the problems are being glossed over as ever and is never been acknowledged. There was a time or rather presently we speak with reverence of doctors who could diagnose an ailment by measuring the pulse of a patient. Such stories may not entirely have a scientific basis, but doctors of the bygone era, on account of lack of gadget assistance, depended more on their inner psychic strength to diagnose a patient rather than refer the latter to a plethora of test on the drop of a hat. This is largely on account of the quality of medical education imparted on the wannabe doctors. Nowadays, a qualified MBBS doctor is even afraid on injecting an intravenous fluid onto a patient, and he/she is likely to cover up this inadequacy by sermonising that such is the work of para-medic staff and, hence, his ineptitude should not be the subject to any criticism. Doctors then were a much revered lot, with a whole lot of us referring to them as Doctor Jethu or Doctor Kaku, and they almost remained a guardian or many things, albeit non-medical, in the area they practiced. The ordinary MBBS doctors were able to carry a load of load, thus the load on speciality hospitals were hardly felt. With changing time, changed the very perception of morality. The Medical Representatives peddles medicines and does many other things, which are now common knowledge, and the doctor, in turn, prescribes such medicines to enable the producer companies to laugh their way to the Bank. I have been witness to one incident, where the foreign jaunt of a doctor was sponsored as an acknowledgement of the said doctors prescribing a series of medicines from that particular company of such a volume that the companys balance sheet reflected a healthy growth on his count alone. Doctors getting some amount of cut as commission for referring patients to enormous amount of test, citing them as necessary, are also open secret, the difference is that none talks of them openly. Such perception does little to regain their lost glory, and with such judgements being delivered, a section of the doctors have been resorting to counter-threats of prescribing more such tests in order to save their skin, are doing more harm by getting such perception entrenched in public psyche. The Medical Associations are more interested in protecting their ilk rather than condemning such black sheep within their community. I really feel disturbed and crestfallen at such state of affairs. Gone are the days of sincere bonhomie between the doctors and the patients. And these change of perceptions are on account of only a section of doctors whose greed always get the better of everything. A visit to many hospital would see a bunch of dedicated doctors, who have perhaps not gone home within last 72 hours attending to patients. Most such doctors are also at the receiving end of patient fury, if and when they erupt, and the specialists go scot free, yet these doctors, who are often referred to as Junior Doctors, still forms the backbone of the healthcare system, and their honesty and determination should be praised and acknowledge by all and sundry. These are the doctors who carry on amidst the inadequate system, with their own might and miniscule apparatus, a blood pressure measuring machine and a stethoscope only, and apart from that almost nothing to fight with. A visit to the emergency of any Government Hospital would bear testimony to what I say. Yet these doctors or rather their efforts are hardly recognised. They may be lacking a plethora of degrees, but they are more human, and they are the ones who does the impossible in terms of patient care, yet they are the most unrecognised lot. Please care for these category of doctors. I would also state that such individual charisma of the super specialist doctors should be done away with at the earliest. Hospitals should act as a team, and all doctors of the team must be given equal importance, if such highlighting of their work is at all required. One must remember, with the anaesthetist, a super hero surgeon will fall to pieces, yet how many of us acknowledge the yeomans service rendered by these persons? Inviting further perspectives in writing from the readers in writing in response to this post. I would love to read them.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 13:42:48 +0000
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