Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dr SHILAJ CHAKRAVORTY on March 12, 2010 at 6:56pm

Any profession practised privately will have a business angle to it. Further, a professional's desire to earn well also necessitates professional approach and stimulates continuous self-assesment and upgradation to acheive proficiency. Earning through unscrupulous means is seen but such people do not last long. Any measure of success and wealth through wrong unethical methods cannot buy peace and happiness (sounds cliched but true!). We have changed our ways and the result is the erosion in our image. If we honestly care for our patients from within, we will get that respect. Too many unfits in the profession have made the common man suspicious about us. Unfortunately the patient always comes in with this apprehension but I have seen that dissolve away once he realises he can trust this doctor. Besides, we are professionals, charging our clients for the services, why should we at all expect that people should consider us God. For that matter, is the profession of an engineer or lawyer any less noble ?

Permalink Reply by Prasun on June 5, 2010 at 10:07am

This, like all other issues involving human being, depends on the personalities involved. The doctor in question and his critic. Both. Though I'm not a doctor, I' spent nearly 10 years in journalism, specialising, among other things, health, as a reporter in Calcutta and other places in the country. I think the rise of private hospitals was a fallout of inability of government hospitals to provide adequate treatment and care due to the tremendous patient load. This is also primarily responsible for all those abuse the government hospitals gather from the masses and the media. The idea is, the rise of private healthcare facilites doesn't denote 'businessisation' of medical practice.Medical practice has always been a business. Let's face the fact. Doctors are professional guys. They take money in return of services rendered. You can't blame them for that. Nobody puts a gun at your temple and force you to take your patient to a private hospital, do they?

The real danger lies in the tremendous temptation dangled before the doctors by the pharmaceutical companies: A car, a foreign trip--even money to prescribe a specific medicine, whether desired or not. I've seen many doctors attached to government hospitals falling prey to this temptation and many attached to private hospitals resisting the temptation. It depends on the man. But I don't think any sane man will blame the entire doctors community for this.

So far patients are concerned, they always expect the best at the lowest price. That's human nature. In many cases, I've seen relatives taking their patient to a plush private hospital, that makes no bones about its high treatment cost, and later ransacking it when the time to pay the bill arrives. The upshot is, the answer to your question is: the individual is to be blamed or praised. I strongly believe, unity never pays---individual responsibility does. Thanks.