MANTRA FOR SCORPION STING? - 14
MANTRA FOR SCORPION STING? - 14
DR R.D. LELECompassion in a Public Hospital?
I am glad that many medical students do develop a caring
attitude for the poor and do their best to serve the poor, as is shown in the
following case: My son Vikram was a Registrar in Medicine at the JJ. Hospital
in 1984-86. He was looking after a newly admitted young girl with a complex
medical history. He made a brilliant diagnosis of cerebral mucormycosis (a rare
fungal infection which enters the brain via the nasal passage and destroys the
blood vessels causing life-threatening complication which results in death
unless treated properly and promptly). The only effective drug for this fungus
infection is Amphoterecin B which is very expensive and was not available in
the hospital. He phoned me from the hospital and asked for help. I gave him the
phone number of the local Managing Director of the multinational company which
manufactures and supplies this drug, and suggested that he seek his help for an
urgent supply, free of cost, of the drug. My son phoned the gentleman at his
residence at 9 p.m. and he promptly arranged to get the godown opened at 10
p.m. and saw to it that adequate supply of the life saving drug reached my
son's Registrars' Quarters at the J.J. Hospital the same night. Thanks to the
generosity of the drug company and the timeliness of the intervention, this
patient's life was saved.
Deaths and catastrophies in public hospitals make newspaper
headlines. Lives saved by conscientious young doctors who care for poor
patients do not make news, hence the general public often is unaware of the
good work that is done by young doctors in public hospitals. A Minister or a
VIP gets prompt attention all the time. The important thing is that a poor,
faceless, general-ward patient can also get VIP treatment, through the sense of
involvement of our young doctors. And yet, when these young doctors agitate for
better emoluments and service conditions, the politicians and bureaucrats in
government show total indifference and apathy. I cannot condemn this attitude
too strongly.
I have stated publicly on more than one occasion that the
only way to improve the condition of public hospitals is to compel ministers,
MPS and MLAs to seek medical aid in their own constituencies. As long as they
have ready access to hospitals like Jaslok, Bombay Hospital, Apollo, Escorts
etc. they could not care less for the state of public hospitals in their own
constituencies.
Apathy and indifference of the silent majority of the Indian
population is the best guarantee of the status quo.