anonymous

20th September 2018

DOCTOR'S DILEMMA (3)

DOCTOR'S DILEMMA (3)

DR RAVI BAPAT

A physician sometimes succumbs to pressures as a result of too many doctors getting involved in a case. I had a very popular medical studentMr S admitted under my care. He was suffering from incurable cancer. Naturally, most of my colleagues were interested in his welfare. The best opinions from Tata Memorial Hospital were sought. The question was whether to give chemotherapy or not. There were two distinct schools of thought. One school held that the prognosis was a foregone conclusion, so why make him miserable with chemotherapy? The other school wanted know what was lost in trying. The relatives were in a dilemma The patient's sister was a trained nurse. Ultimately I was pressured to administer chemotherapy. Alas, the patient developed severe side effects and ultimately succumbed. I was deeply pained. Should I have been party to administering chemotherapy to the patient, only to add to his misery?


Compilation of professional reminiscences of specialists - edited by M.V.Kamath and Dr.Rekha Karmarkar.