Its a shame...

This is a mail from a colleague and friend, that I received some time back, It shocked all cheer and joy out of me that morning .. Read on..

"
Hi,

My wife got scanned at Sagar @$0!!0Z at her 6th week and baby growth was upto mark. At that time the gynaecologist gave her a hormone drug which was consumed by my wife for 2 weeks. The scan at end of these 2 weeks shows that growth stopped after 6th week. There was an abortion due to this.

Name of the drug: Progesterone.

The following link shows that this medicine shall not be used during pregnancy.
http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/pro1639.htm

When asked the doctor for clarification the answer given was "I do not know what is written in the Net about this drug. It is not wrong and generally it will be given to test tube babys." !!

There is no logic or proper answer given by the doctor why this medicine was prescribed for a pregnant lady who is doing quite well. My wife also told the doctor that she does not have any complications or isssues.

Its a really horrible situation in my life.. .........
.....
..... and now she says reason for zero growth could be that the foetus itself is weak?

So I thought it was worth sharing this with you guys.. Its better we re-check the usage and problems of all such drugs before we start consuming them as prescribed by any doctor...

"


While in 5th century BC.. Hippocrates had written something which could be translated roughly as
"I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art."

Most modern changes to the omnipresent and the most important document in medicine
the Hippocratic Oath have intelligently removed explicitly saying this , maybe since the drug companies could be peeved, or maybe cos it doesnt go with the modern times where you can just "get busy" before lunch and do a nip n tuck in the evening, and marvel at new tech or woman power.. but they do show something like

"I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.
Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks."


So tell me, doctors and surgeons, therapists and cologists and the alike, though I am a zilch in Medicine or anything that relates to it, though I couldn't tell between Campose and Lactose, or a -plasty from a -etomy, and therefore shouldnt have the guts to stand against the 10 years of hard work and sleepless nights you all put in..

Do you think our hospitals , our clinics, our wards, and research buildings can be called places built for humanitarian cause? Or they are core professional factories of work.. similar to what all others go to too with tiffin boxes and files?
Do you think its right to equate a doctor to a priest or a holy soul? Or its more like "Hey we're just plain humans dude.. We do our job like ya.. make mistakes, do it good.. earn our bucks.. share a pint or two with friends and go home to wife.. "
Do you think your knowledge is special to all other professions? Cos your risks, your gains, and your successes operate not on human society and worldy things.. but humans themselves?

I know (I think) there is nothing wrong in answering either way for any of the three questions.

But it will be the ward-boy who will think twice before applying his son to the hospital where he works, as his son might return home with his weight reduced by a kidney's.
Maybe, I dont know, and maybe its better to apologize before this provocation, but do most doctors mostly prefer announcing their credentials , when they visit another of their brethren, cos the fee could be waived?
My dentist needs x-rays of the same tooth, twice in 3 months, (each copy has a lifetime of the current consultation), ofcourse 100 bucks dont pinch me, but 7K worth of tests surely bothered my friend when his 4 year old was diagnosed for recurrent fever at Man**pal, and I am not even starting on the charges during Hospitalization there.. and oh - B . T. W., the tests ended non conformative.
My medical insurance coverage certificate has letters smaller than the ICICI ATM list printouts on what are the terms and conditions on the backsheet.. Maybe, 50% of the cases wont even be eligible claims under my coverage.
People actually save 10 Lakhs per person on post retirement medical plans.. (am I a bit short here? or far ?)

All this is fine.

Yes. Fine.

But, is it really ok to be lax with ANYTHING that concerns a new life? Was it really not worth it to have learnt more about the drug as a doctor maybe, rather than see the utterly broken face of my friend that I saw, from across your desk?

So is the Hippocratic Oath you took just a meaningless relic and a moral science exercise ?

I am sure, Its Not.


My first instinct was to tell him to sue the blo**dy ar*es , but it didnt take me long to realize that from what he had lost, nothing really would have provided much consolation, financial benefit, the the least of all. Maybe we Indians dont know the way of earning fast bucks. We need a couple of john Edwards like millionaire lawyers and politicians, someone who can make us a buck or two, for such tiny medical malpractices you see, but the Indian system will just ruthlessly shred your peace apart, emotionally and financially if you even attempt so..

I dont know folks, maybe the drug was right, maybe it wasnt, the hospital is empowered , enough to handle such petty cases, as the people who guessed the name right would know.
I have heard huge stories of selfless doctors, Big degree holders who just settled in a remote village , and accept a a dozen chickens or just a hug for pay. I have seen cheerful doctors who make complex things look like fun and old nurses who still have the zeal and cheer , when they enter wards they have been roaming, cleaning, nursing for decades. The internet tells me of how huge a success are the Polio and the AIDS campaigns.. and the amount of work done by footsoldiers, doctors small and big, and the government, things that can be envied as the biggest acts of volunteering, initiatives and sacrifice for humanity causes, across the world.

But I am sick of the way the medicine profession and industry is turning up in my country. I am sick of the overcharges, the bad drugs, and the apathy . I am sick of accepting it as our fate and I am sick of seeing the value to life and humanity vanish in moment when you enter these spic and span , fashion decorated hospitals, and see the old man queuing up at the specially placed ATMs from banks around the world at the ground floor, while the formally dressed head nurse scowls at him for being slow. They look like Death Chambers more than places which give , nurture or protect life.

And I have absolutely no clue what to do about it. I am just too small to make a change. Maybe I'll just write this blog entry.