Sunday, April 19, 2020

All we have is Now...



The ‘Wuhan - Chinese Virus’ pandemic is unprecedented, with its impact which has been extraordinary across the globe, including India. The danger posed by this disease is real, imminent, and something that the world has never dealt with before.

All across the world, the front line warriors against this deadly disease have been the healthcare workers (HCWs) – doctors & nurses who have been ‘selflessly’ working in this combat.

But what makes the global situation different in India is the way doctors and nurses are being treated, by the government and by the common man of the country.

Isn’t it perplexing that it did not even take hours for the ‘shameless’ general Indian population to shift gear from ‘clap mode’ to ‘slap mode’.

The news of HCWs being accused of ‘negligence’ when an elderly patient dies of the virus, being beaten on declaring death of a COVID 19 patient, being stone pelted and ‘chased out’ of resident locality while going for screening camps or to quarantine patients, to be thrown out of their rented accommodation & hostels due to the fear of being carriers, not being provided with even decent meals while actively attending to COVID positive patients, getting defamed to be the actual source of contagion for many patients in a facility, etc should really put the country to shame.

And to top it off, very less has actually been seen of the government’s ‘hollow’ actions for the front line warriors which are only on paper and in news conferences, not at the grass root level.

Is it wrong for doctors and nurses to demand PPE kits? And how does the government respond – using threats - to terminate employment contracts, or by cancelling registrations to practice medicine, or by not giving graduation degrees to interns after completion of their MBBS, and of using their last resort ‘brahmastra’ - the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) by which HCWs can be imprisoned for up to a year in case they refuse to work; and by false reassurance on national television that we are well prepared?

And to add more insult, they come up with regularly updated ‘loosened’ guidelines to reuse and sterilize the N95 masks, thereby increasing risks to the HCWs – not because the government wants you to be safe, but to make sure the we continue to work !

The official COVID 19 positive patient numbers (which have been decently low are increasing at snail’s pace) is because of the less testing available, the 40-50 % false negatives of the currently available kits, maximum cases being those with mild symptoms who are asymptomatic carriers and not being tested at all, less virulent strain of the virus in India, etc – while we HCWs are aware that the actual numbers might be 25-30 times the official numbers.

Is there any transparent explanation of the way the money donated to the government is being spent? With unspent money in millions already lying in the PM National Relief Fund, thousands of crores is received from ‘civilians’ in a separate fund and the ‘PM Cares’!

Nevertheless, I will only pray that this pandemic ends soon and normalcy is restored – because Corona or No Corona, the common Indian man’s attitude towards the medical fraternity will never change, unless the government takes stringent measures.

I would like to end this article by a poem dedicated to all healthcare workers – Head Held High.

When time tests you in its war,
People taunt you for who you are,
Things fall apart, you don't know why,
Never look down, hold your head high.

When success evades you, failures you see,
Learn to move on, let it be,
Aim higher next time, for the limitless sky,
Never look down, hold your head high.

Every strong man is tested, before his greatness,
Accept the truth, keep the heart hate less,
We will be victorious, it sure ain't a lie,
So never look down, and hold your head high.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Save the Savior !!


Yes we are nerds…we are geeks…we are those hard working, selfless doctors who have sacrificed a lot and gone through hell to be one. For as long as I remember, we are those who have burnt the midnight oil all through childhood, teenage years and early adulthood…been hardworking toppers, disciplined, brilliant winners throughout.

Right from getting into medical college after cracking the entrance exams (in 1,2 or 3 attempts), we give our best so that we can live up to the dreams and hopes in our parents’ eyes. Slogging hard, going through innumerable exams, vivas and more exams, we have no social life at all except restaurants and theaters near the medical college. We miss out on our family lives, cousin’s marriages, family functions, new year celebrations, festivals like Diwali, Navratri because we are always busy studying for the mid-term, ward exams, prelims or the university exams.

Unlike engineering and commerce courses requiring 2 months of studies just before half yearly and final exams, for us time literally comes to a standstill for approximately 6-7 years studying 365 days a year during M.B.B.S to become a doctor. The medical college becomes our home, our playground and fellow students our family. Even after completion of M.B.B.S, we stand nowhere in the current scenario. The days of a General Practitioner are over.. Then we start preparing for a second rat race and we go back to what we are best at…Sitting and studying for post-graduation….having the most boring, frustrating, and sedentary life one can imagine. By the time we get our graduation degrees, most of our contemporary friends are already done with their Masters. And then there is the ‘Rural MOship’ where you are supposed to waste 1 more year in some village or tribal area just because we chose to be a ‘ Life saving Doctor’ or pay an impossible amount of money to the Government.

Sitting and studying for 1-2 years preparing for post-graduation, not necessarily getting into the branch of your choice and compromising in life, and then living life like a dog for 3 years during post-graduation is so saddening. And then we start our lives when our school and college friends are well settled living their lives happily after marriage with their children. And when we do come out of the long dormant period, all we realize is the true meaning of life…it is not in money, fame…but in small little things of everyday life, being with family…. Yes, we doctors do get rich eventually but at the age when we cannot enjoy their own money, because the time we should have been ‘alive’, we were stuck in our books.

Looking at the shocking news of a Chennai Neurosurgeon who died battling the coronavirus – denied a respectable burial – mob protesting and attacking the ambulance personal – dead body being left in the middle of the road – later buried by another doctor who had to himself dig the grave of his friend, rocks me to the core. What kind of a savage society are we really living in?

Though I’m a very passionate emergency physician with complete dedication to my work and my patients, with the way things are (and only getting worse), I’m inclined to wonder if it is really worth the grind? Should hard working youngsters be discouraged to even look at medicine as a career option in India…for people who think being a doctor is cool, noble, respectable and would want to be one…. think again, the typical Indian mentality, the politics, the laws in this country will never change…it is not worth risking YOUR OWN LIFE.

Friday, April 17, 2020

Webinars are painful waste of Time: Study.

Webinar Specialist Doctor evaluating Chest X-Ray of a COVID 19 patient.
Mumbai: In a jaw dropping study which has put a question mark on the integrity of the medical fraternity, it has been revealed that most doctors conducting webinars and giving interviews on news channels about Coronavirus are those who have never treated a viral infection in their entire career and have zero understanding about Epidemiology.

While infectious disease specialists are busy working on the front lines, doctors having degrees and expertise in Dermatology, Cardiovascular Surgery, Neurosurgery, Endocrinology, etc have suddenly become experts on COVID 19 and have been lecturing others on live Webinars and from television studios. The study also highlighted the fact that 70 % of the attendees of the webinars are implanted pawns of the organizers who are not only forced to attend, but are also given pre decided questions to ‘stupidly’ ask during the webinar to make it interactive.

In an exclusive interview with the Quackdoses, Dr. K’abhi Matbann, a plastic surgeon who has so far conducted more than 50 webinars said, “Jo dikhta hai, who bikta hai…. After reading all the forwarded guidelines and policies from Whatsapp University, it is not so difficult to impart knowledge on such platforms, which is mostly on use of PPEs only - not available in the country anyways. We are actually not concerned about solving queries, but are simply more concerned about the number of people present during the live webinars”.

Unconfirmed reports claimed that 2 webinar experts Dr. Munna & Dr. Circuit were secretly overheard saying, “Arre tere ko aur mere ko Corona kya hai, ghanta malum hai?”, to which the other one replied, “Bhai, webinar dekhne walon ko bhi ghanta malum hai”.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

मेरा पैगाम, देश के नाम।


एक बीमारी बड़ रही आगे,
नाम सुनते सभी दूर भागे,
COVID -19 है वो कहलाती,
नहीं देखती वो धर्म और जाती।

आओ मिलकर हाथ बड़ाओ,
देश को अपने सक्षम बनाओ,
साथ बड़ाओ अपने कदम,
संग सभी तो जीतेंगे हम।

भारत देश हमारा प्यारा,
कोरोना के प्रकोंप का है मारा,
ज़ोर देकर सोचो सभी,
‘सोशल डिस्टन्सिंग’ करनी होगी अभी।

कोरोना ने देश को भी बनाया है अपना घर,
खासने, छिंकने और छूने से फैला मगर,
आज हज़ारों देश वासी है इसका शिकार,
लॉकडॉन रखने से ही है इसका उपचार।

अन्न है हम सभी को खाना,
गंदे हाथों से बीमारी को क्यों साथ ले जाना,
संक्रमण की दरें कम होंगे तभी,
जब हाथ धोके खायेंगे सभी।

बच्चों - बड़ों को भी यही समझाना,
सरकार के निर्देशनों को ज़रूर निभाना,
बनेंगे भारत के भविष्य तभी,
जब मास्क पहन कर बचेंगे अभी।

डॉक्टर- नर्स- पुलिस- सफाई कर्मी साथ हैं,
बस कुछ समय की और बात है,
कोरोना का प्रकोंप होगा कम्,
प्रगति की राह पर होंगे हम।

सेहत का पैग़ाम फैलाना है हम सभी का धर्म,
इस जंग में साथ देके तुम करो अच्छे कर्म,
ये पाठ याद रख इंसान, बने तो इंसान बन फिर चाहे,
डॉक्टर को मत बना भगवान,
डॉक्टर को मत बना भगवान !

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Unethical to not give alcohol prescriptions, say AYUSH doctors body.



Bengaluru - A day after the Indian Medicos Association criticized the Kerala government's move to provide alcohol on a doctor's prescription, AYUSH practitioners have come forward to offer their services and have demanded that this rule should come into effect throughout the country.

The controversial decision had been taken by the state government after suicide reports of those who couldn't deal with withdrawal symptoms due to the unavailability of alcohol during the 21-day countrywide lockdown starting March 25.

Ever since the COVID 19 pandemic has hit the country, doctors practicing the alternate systems of Indian medicine, who were till now claiming to be equivalent to MBBS, have been sitting idle at home. Even PM Modi in his recent interaction with the AYUSH Ministry only praised them in promoting #YogaAtHome to de-stress the mind and in spreading awareness about social distancing, rest of the news reports looked liked answers to PSM long answer questions of just beating around the bush to fill exam supplements.

In an exclusive interview with the Quackdoses, president of the AYUSH Placebo Association, Dr. Hakim said, “We disagree with the Indian Medicos Association’s argument that Alcohol is not a medicine, and that it would be unethical for any doctors to prescribe it. The government has every reason to push liquor sale, not least for its significant revenue implications, but because we have been prescribing both Dava & Daru to patients since ages. We would be happy if World Health Organization (WHO), or at least the Medicos Council of India (MCI), makes the alcohol on doctor’s prescription only rule mandatory permanently.”

The AYUSH Placebo Association has announced that they will sit at home wearing black badges on Tuesday to protest, if the government does not agree to their demand.