Have medicos forgot the Hippocratic Oath
The ultimate aim of doctor is and rather should be to remove the miseries and pangs of the patient
Dr. Mudasir Ahmad Gori
Among many professions which are believed to carry a prestige, doctor’s profession is probably the noblest profession. I can say this at least as far as the recent Pandemic is concerned.
We all know that medical profession is considered as one of the honorable professions and doctors are considered next only to God. A doctor should treat patients equally irrespective of the caste, colour, religion or financial position.
The ultimate aim of doctor is and rather should be to remove the miseries and pangs of the patient. I had the same opinion about doctors up until recently when I noticed a lot of discrepancy that are done by some medical professionals. Here I deem it fit to mention I am not generalizing it for all doctors but those playing with lives of people and not really bothering about the state of affairs of the patients.
Therefore, my write up is addressed to them and not to those who stood like a rock during the entire period of the ongoing pandemic. I would like to put a word of appreciation and pray to Allah that may their families shine every time and may the philanthropic spirit be inculcated among us too.
It is unfortunate that I have nothing to offer to them other than a simple gratitude. However, it is because of those handful doctors that the image of honest and dedicated doctors too gets stained and they pay the price for something that they haven’t done. That brings me back to question have doctors become money minting machines?
My answer to this question is “yes” and I have reasons to say that. In the first place let’s not forget the recent episode of a Delhi doctor who took the important organs out of the patients and then fed them to crocodiles. Isn’t this inhuman? Isn’t he a butcher in the form of a doctor? Just like wearing a black coat does not make anyone a lawyer in the similar fashion wearing a white coat does not entitle a person to be called a medical professional.
How on earth can one do such an inhuman act? Did his consciousness not call him even once while doing all of this. What prompted him to do this. I mean it appears doctors play an important role in organ transplantation. Organ transplantation is already going on the pretext of offering handsome money to the poor and then compelling them to sell their organs. These and many other cases are not limited to the capital of the country but are taking place in every corner of every state and Jammu and Kashmir is not an exception. But interestingly the means and modes of looting people differ.
As regards to Kashmir, the pace at which people are ransacked cannot be measured. The rush at private clinics of doctors can easily depict the real picture of their loot. These doctors at Private clinics will ask you to do number of tests even if all of those tests have been done just a day ago. The reason is modest because they have links with testing labs where it is set that a certain amount of commission between the honour of the testing lab and the doctor will be followed.
How does it work out, these doctors actually prepare their psyche of the patients, asking them it is serious and only testing lab ‘A’ or ‘B’ can do these tests as others don’t show the appropriate results. I was shell shocked at a clinic to see that a patient had paid the fee for consultation and she was reluctant to buy medicines from the clinic and the man who appeared as the owner of the clinic did not let go of that lady and even snatched her prescription saying that “Hum KyabekaarbetheyhnYanha, Yanha medicine nailogaytoh prescription naidounga”. I was wondering if this was really an order or any threat from him.
Can’t you give patients the liberty to buy medicines from wherever they want? Is there any protocol that is to be followed; is there any law, like you have to buy medicines necessarily from the same clinic? I dared to interfere in the matter and ironically that man was adamant and rude; he acted like a hooligan not knowing how to behave with an elderly lady. I got skeptical about his credentials as well.
I am not sure whether he qualifies the criteria of running a medical shop. As per the latest government rules, any unlicensed person is not entitled to run a medical shop or be a salesman unless he a Pharmacy graduate. I am sure you will find huge number of people who do not qualify the criteria of being a medical salesman yet they are working as salesman and authorities are acting as mute spectators. Probably, the concerned authorities must have been involved too, otherwise, where do we see the chance of those unqualified selling medicines in those clinics.
Amusingly, these doctors act very polite at the private clinics, they give enough time to patients. They act polite and modest. It is because they know their behaviour can affect to a large extent on the visit and rush of the patients. Therefore, they act clever, but one gets dumb struck when these same doctors are performing their duties in the hospitals. The entire character zone of their humility is changed into Dr. Jackal of Shaktiman Play.
On asking why do they behave like this? They have a ready answer that there is a great flow of patients that they have to deal with, therefore, they do it quickly. I am sure if you can see or examine 50 patients at your private clinics in just 2 hours, then examining 100 or 200 patients should not be a big deal because you have got 5 to 6 hours at hospital as working hours or in some cases more than that.
However, let me also admit the elite section of our society is also responsible for letting these doctors to practice at private clinics. They can’t afford to wait in hospital for their turn but they can afford a huge amount of money to be examined at private clinics. If they would change this trend I am sure these doctors won’t be heeded to a great notch.
Consequently, the need arises that either we should improvise the structure of our government hospitals to such an extent that no one could be compelled to do the testing at some private clinics. If all those things can be made accessible to patients in the government hospitals why anyone would go to the private clinics.
Secondly, those doctors serving honestly at hospitals should be honoured occasionally, their service should be acknowledged by offering them some consolation prize even if it is just a meager amount. This can set the trend for others and they may get some inspiration. Moreover, the concerned government hospitals should prepare a catalogue or newsletter where the services of these doctors should be highlighted and made public.
In the same breath those doctors who engage themselves at private clinics and show reluctance in the performance of their duty at hospital should be shown the doors and put behind the bars. In both cases, it will serve as a lesson for other doctors.
(The writer is a research scholar, social activist and an author. He can be reached at [email protected])
KV Network
