LETTER TO AMIR KHAN
[a
work of compilation from facebook/news/tv/personal opinion of various doctors]
From- ALL MEDICOS N
DOCTORS.
Dear Mr. Amir Khan,
“NOT ALL DOCTORS ARE GREEDY”
“THERE IS NO PROFESSION
THAT IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAN”
“DOCTORS ARE OBLIGED TO SERVE BY CHOICE, NOT
BY COMPULSION”
Sir,
I have been a big fan or
your work, life and principles. I am also a fan of ‘Satyamev Jayate’.
I saw your show on the
status of medical healthcare in India on star plus and doordarshan.
It highlighted to society the concern about the healthcare that
it receives at the hands of brutally dishonest and unethical
doctors also known as ‘maut ke saudaagar’. Web- Link of that
episode is-
I understand that
there are sections of the medical fraternity that behave in ways
that do not bring glory to the profession but I was shocked to
see the episode on 27th May, 2012. You are an Icon.
You should have thought well and done the homework before doing
such a biased show. There are only two people in
the film industry that are being taken seriously by the
thinking class of society, you and Amitabh Bacchhan. So, when
you give such a biased and one sided version of a story,
it hurts. Speaking about such a thing on a “commercial” TV show
is bad. (I am sure you have taken a big amount, only doctor
are supposed to do charity and social work, not actors!!! Right!
) I want to highlight few important points here. And yes I am
qualified to make observations as I am a medical student. Dear
Mr. Aamir Khan, I have been trying hard but cannot get over
the fact that you can 'sell' ignorance with such ease and honor.
1. You said that the most brilliant students who take up
medicine, should take it only for service to mankind, they
should go to other fields if they want to earn. What do
you mean when you say ' People of high IQ and desire to earn money should not
become doctors’? Why? Are doctors not allowed to earn and spend
a good life? Are we living in imperialism? Why
aren’t doctors allowed to have an ambition?? How can a person who earns 4
crores for an episode of a so called 'social' show decide on what should be an
individual's ambition and financial status!! Why can there be no doctors who earn well for
their professional skills and do not indulge in malpractices? It just reflects
your hypocrisy.
It’s
not a fight sir but we have few questions for you and public
1. Does a doctor get any special discount on MRP of
consumer goods?
2. Does any school waive its fees for a doctor's kid?
3. Does a doctor get any special tax rebate?
4. Does the govt. gives permanent jobs to doctors
in village?
5. Does the court convict the people who attack doctors on duty?
6. Does a doctor get any discount on railway, airplane
ticket, or petrol?
7. Is the doctor responsible for poor health infrastructure or the
politicians whom you elect on the basis of caste, religion or quota
sops?
8. Does Amir Khan treat u when you are ill?
9. Why should a doctor not be paid well for saving your life? Or
is it that your life is worthless?
10. Is Amir Khan promoting good health by doing ads for
coca-cola and earning millions?
11. Why should a doctor sacrifice his life and happiness
for you? What have u done to deserve it?
2. You
said since 2001, government opened 31 medical colleges and
106 private institutes were opened. Please note that today
in India; there are a total of 181 Private and 152 Govt Medical colleges.
So the number is not as bad as you projected. Don’t project
only the time period which suits your story. Either you give
a complete picture or do not give a picture at all and
also, please find out how many of these private colleges are owned
by politicians? 95% of Private colleges in India are
owned and run by politicians. It is a bloody nexus between
politicians and MCI. The corruption by politicians is to be blamed
for the mess, not doctors!!!
3. One of
your guests (Dr. Gulhati) said that doctors ask for 30%
commission from Pharmacy companies to write their drugs.
That is baseless, over-the-roof and sensationalizing the matter.
That is as true as “Most Leading actors ask newcomers
to sleep with them” or “Lawyers take money from both the sides
in a legal battle” or “Most chartered accountants teach
their clients how to save tax and also pass info to taxman on
where his client saved tax”. I know all of you will shout
“Where is the proof?” So are doctors!!! I am not trying to
sensationalize things as you did on your show by shading those
fake tears, but just trying to project that allegations are easy
to make. I know you will say that this was the opinion of our
guest, and not yours. But you provided a platform for these fake
allegations.
4. You
compared the numbers of Licenses cancelled in England and in India.
I must say your team is quite resourceful and please collect and
compare following details also –
a. Number of doctors beaten on duty by goons from various
political outfits in government hospitals in UK and India in
last 10 years, and also the number of people convicted for such
crime.
b. The Stipend (Salary a
post- graduate trainee doctor/intern gets) or Salary, living
standards and the doctor: patient ratio and accommodation
facilities provided to the doctors of the two countries.
c. The duty hours and
working conditions of the doctors of the two countries
d. The academic and research infrastructure being
provided to the medical students.
5. Your
guests and audience (the words were almost put in their mouth)
said that private colleges charge a capitation fee of 40–50 Lacs
for MBBS; you should have also produced some evidence of
such practice. Like you call a victim in all
your episodes, why not here? And do the same story on Engineering,
Architecture, Law and MBA colleges; do you think they are clean?
Why to target doctors alone? You spoke about doctors buying medical
degrees for 40-50 lakh rupees. Here are some figures for you.
In 2011, 2, 21,867 students appeared for an entrance
examination into medicine called the All India Pre Medical
Test (AIPMT). They were competing for 1887 medical seats in
government colleges. After listening to your show, every doctor
who has worked tirelessly and endlessly to get into the
profession, and in spite of ALL odds, qualify as a doctor will
be viewed with suspicion by his society, as someone who may have
“bought” his degree. You have condemned me, and thousands,
perhaps lakh of young and upcoming doctors like me, who struggled among
2, 21,867 people to get those 1887 seats, to a lifetime
of suspicion and ignominy. You then went on to chat with
a gentleman from Wales about how he had to flee India due to
rampant malpractice. In doing so, you have
encouraged thousands of young Indian minds into falsely believing
that the west is the destination where they will have
a clean, ethical and well paying job. You have just doubled
the brain-drain singlehandedly, Mr. Khan. And you have condemned
every Indian to losing the best minds they could have had treating
them in India.
6. Why
only Doctors are being forced to work in rural and government
hospitals after their study? Why only we should
pay government if we don’t want to do it? The rural/Govt sector
needs help of Engineers, Lawyers, Chartered Accountants and
MBAs also. Why aren’t the Engineers sent to rural areas to
design and monitor roads and industrials development? Why aren’t
the Lawyers forced to work as Public prosecutors before they can
join some big foreign corporate firm? Why aren’t the CAs asked to work
in CAG office and various other government financial sectors
before joining Multinational Giants? Now government wants
that doctors should not immigrate to other
countries without asking them. Why? Are the
IIT/IIM students stopped before they flee to foreign countries for
big fat salaries? So, why only us? What is it that government of
society has done for doctors that they should repay? They
bloody can’t even protect them from goons while on duty.
7. You say that doctors are writing unnecessary and
costly medications. Do we decide the price of a drug? Do
we manufacture or give license to drug manufacturers? Controlling
the price of essential drugs is a government job. We
are helpless. Sir, it’s easy to point fingers. We don’t
say that all is well. But all is not well anywhere. It’s a
different thing creating awareness about dowry or female
feticide. But it’s entirely different to comment on such
a technical and complicated issue without getting into the
details of it. You have maligned the entire medical fraternity. For
every 10 doctors who are doing wrong, there are more than
1000 healers. You owe us an apology!!! This issue is not as
simple as you think it is! Please show stories which are
unbiased and straight-forward. You cannot do justice
to such an issue, especially after charging a whooping amount for
creating awareness!!!(We hear that Amir has charged 3crores
for episode of satyamevjayate in which he spreads the
message to doctors that they should not make money and
do social service!! How sacred!! I don’t know if it’s true,
but well, it’s the season of allegations. Doctors may be doing
little social service, but at least we are not charging
for it".
Coming
to generic drugs, yes, a large amount of rural population should
have access to cheap generic drugs. But one should not forget the pharmacy
companies that charge more for the drugs are the ones that spend crores of
rupees for research and development of new drugs. Had there not been drug trials no new
drugs would have been invented and we would have mortality rates compared to Stone
Age. Also I agree that most doctors endorse certain brands of drugs (which
I do not deny may be for some financial gains also) because they have faith in
the quality of the 'active drug' of certain companies. Yes many local companies
manufacture generic products (which is a copy of the original molecule
discovered by the expensive company which can be used for unaffordable
patients. But you did not mention that many of these generic drugs are of
substandard quality and are the reason of many uncalled deaths due
to drug reactions. Most doctors would not want to take responsibility of the
quality of the 'generic' drugs.
8. Sir, we don’t say you are wrong there are bad doctors out
there as well but you projected whole medical fraternity as fake
corrupts and evils.Mr. Aamir Khan I am not getting back at you
because I took your show personally. Yes, I agree that there are doctors indulging in shameful
malpractices and even I know a few of them. But I can proudly say I am
surrounded by more doctors who work day and
night just to ensure that their patients get the best possible
treatment..The 'BAD' doctors should be punished and we all can come together to
ensure we do not encourage such malpractices
9. I'm a doctor because I’m capable and not because of
charity.....I’m qualified on my own merit and not because
u elected me!!
You were asking Dr. Devi Shetty whether he can do humanitarian
work and Earn at same time? This is like asking Amir Khan or Shahrukh
khan their income and generalizing it for every actor in the
industry (Even junior artists). Sir, just as there are only few
Khans and Kapoors,There are even fewer Devi Shetty and Naresh trehan
who run their chain of Multi-specialty hospitals spread all over the
country. See what it takes to become a doctor and then
give such “Geeta-Gyan”.
A. 5 and half year of MBBS training and 1 more
year of Compulsory Rural Internship at Rs. 15000 - 20000 per
month. (Any other field e.g. Engineering, Management, a
person would become Postgraduate in this much time and start earning
double the amount.) If one doesn’t study further, the pay at
this step is 22,000 per month.
B. After above 6 and half years of Graduation, SERVICE BONDS RANGING
FROM 2 YEAR TO 10 YEAR
C. 3 more years of Post graduation, followed again
by compulsory rural / Government job for 1 year to 5year or pay
Rs. 25Lac to 2 crore bond. If one doesn’t study further, the pay at
this step is 40,000 per month.
c. After this above 10 and half years, 3 more years of Super specialty,
followed by 1 year of Govt job or a Bond of Rs. 2 Crore. And the
seats are so few with tough competition, there tends to be a gap
of a year or two in preparing for various entrance exams.
10.
We don’t sleep at nights to have knowledge
about your pain. My life is just books
and tests because I have to save your life in future. Secondly I would have appreciated if you would have
thrown some light on the entrance examinations and the hard work, dedication
and sacrifices a doctor needs to clear his MBBS, MD, DM etc examinations. I
wish you had spent half a day in the emergency department and OPD of a Govt.
Hospital and realized that the work timings, working conditions, lunch breaks, doctor:
patient ratio, hours of sleep per week, living conditions in the hostel and the
stipend is worse than a class 4 laborer. You would have also surprisingly realized
that the 'DOCTORS' are the only 'FUNCTIONAL' part of a Govt. Hospital which
still caters to thousands of patients in a day. I
am always exposed to infections coz I am always around the sick. My
job is not from 9 to 5 but it is 24*7 till I die. My family life is a mess
because I don’t spend time with them instead treats you. I study all
my life just for u people...so RESPECT DOCS.
11. I understand that your aim in this episode, and
on the show, as a whole, is to make society aware of the
issues that plague India, and help it to move towards
a better place. I also understand that you may
have, unfortunately, done the exact opposite, at
least with this episode. I’ll tell you why.
You started the show with the story of
a diabetic losing his toe. (You did not tell us that he
is diabetic, but the footwear he was wearing hinted at that.)
This gentleman was retrospectively told about the possibility of
medical management of his toe infection. You should know few
statistics about diabetic foot disease (yes, Indian doctors
also are aware of research methodology,
like your famed “research” team).The foot ulcer incidence
rates range between 2% and 10% among patients with
diabetes mellitus. The age adjusted annual incidence
for non traumatic lower limb amputations in diabetics’
ranges from 2.1 to 13.7 per 1000 persons (as per
a study published in the Journal of American College of
Surgeons in 1996). India has approximately 50.8
diabetic patients, according to the world diabetes foundation.
Assuming that Indian doctors are competent enough
to treat diabetes as well as their counterparts in the
US, (where, presumably, you will be going for your medical
treatment, as you proudly proclaimed that you
will not undergo any medical treatment in
India) that translates to about 5 million Indians having a
chance of developing a foot ulcer, and about 500
thousand Indians needing lower limb amputation. Each
of those 5 million people who develop the foot ulcer, will
remember your episode, and will opt for medical
treatment, which, if it fails to work (which it will, Mr. Khan,
in a more than a few cases), will convert a toe amputation into
a below knee or above knee amputation, or even death,
depending upon how long the patient chooses to be on
medical therapy. You have just condemned 5
million Indians to uncertainty, loss of limb
more than what would have been, or even death. And you
should know that the patient in your show might still be able to walk just
because of the timely action taken by the surgeon.
Next,
There was a chat about “unnecessary” Kidney
transplants. Here are a few facts, Aamir. In the United
States, the general hemodialysis and
peritoneal dialysis populations have 2 hospital admissions
per patient per year; patients who have a renal transplant have an
average of 1 hospital admission per year. Additionally, patients
with ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease)
who undergo renal transplantation survive
longer than those on chronic dialysis. The mortality rates
associated with hemodialysis are striking and indicate that
the life expectancy of patients entering into hemodialysis is
markedly shortened. In 2003, over 69,000
dialysis patients enrolled in the ESRD program died (annual
adjusted mortality rate of 210.7 per 1000 patient-years at risk
for the dialysis population, which represents a 14%
decrease since peaking at 244.5 per 1000 patient-years in
1988). The 5-year survival rate for a
patient undergoing chronic dialysis in the United States is
approximately 35%, and approximately 25% in patients
with diabetes. Though there are no nationwide records to
calculate the incidence of ESRD in India, a
population based study done in Bhopal showed the average annual
crude and age-adjusted incidence rates for the period were
151 and 229 per million populations, respectively. Extrapolating
this data to the population of India, we have 200 thousand
Indians with ESRD. Again, if you are willing to believe that
Indian doctors are as competent as their western counterparts, only
25 percent of these will live beyond 5 years without
a transplant. So renal transplant remains the best available
treatment option for chronic kidney disease. You have just
condemned 150 thousand Indians to uncertainty, indignity
and death. You said patients on dialysis live up to 15-20 years. (I hope
you take responsibility for people who after watching your show plan to not go
for kidney transplant and die in less than 5 years)
Next,
You spoke about doctors
asking for “unnecessary” tests, and even went
to the extent of describing a “basin” test in jest. In
doing so, you condemned every clinical practitioner in the
country to a lifetime of uncertainty about how his patients
will react to his demand for justified investigations which
will undoubtedly save the patient’s life. And get some research done
on the cases of somatoform and somatisation disorders where patients have only
a psychological belief about some serious illness inside them. In such patients
we need to prescribe some costly medicines maybe just multivitamins to act on
their psyche and placebo effects are generated to correct their cognitive
distortion. Some times in doing so we need to order some apparently unnecessary
investigations but they are all justified in the eyes of a TRUE HEALER just to
get rid of the illness and not to get money.
Next,
An overenthusiastic girl from the audience said that her father
was forced for an emergency liver transplant '6-7 years' ago for
gastroenteritis. Fact- Even today there are ' a handful' of hospitals in India
offering liver transplants. To think those 6-7 years ago, just for gastroenteritis
999 patients (according to your data) were offered liver transplant
is not only improbable but technically impossible.
I could go on with
this dissection of your well researched show Aamir, but I just
want to end this issue with a story. There is a
man, who was educated in rural India, came to a city with
next to nothing, practiced as an honest doctor there for 30
odd years, refused to give or accept commissions or cuts,
stayed simple, worked hard, and gave his family a decent
life. Today, you have condemned him to being seen as a criminal
in the eyes of the same people he served.
16. Here are some of suggestions to heal the
ill medical and health system of india.
1. Govt. medical colleges
and hospitals should multiply several folds, increasing the number of doctors
in each department, improving the doctor: patient ratio. Doctor's salaries and
living conditions should be looked after and should be comparable to other
professionals.
2. Try to maintain the govt. hospital up to the standard of private sectors.
And this is the job of govt. The Govt. should spend 6-8% of GDP ON
HEALTHCARE and a part of which should also be committed to the research and
development of newer drugs.
3. Public too bears the responsibility to maintain the govt. property like
hospital.
4. Stop corruption at top level that eats the major% of hospital fund. No
politician should be allowed to be associated with any private medical
colleges.
5. Give doctors the proper social security.
6. The primary school education must include more and more health related
topics because who can be fooled? Only those who don’t know about It.! So the
general public should be educated well about common diseases and the
'acceptable' qualifications of the doctors
7. If treatment of better quality (at lower cost) is available at govt.
hospitals, why would we go to empty our pocket at corporate hospitals?
8. Public should know that good treatment doesn’t come just by money.
9. ' BAD' doctors indulging in malpractices should be suspended for
life. We need a strong regulatory authority to publish expected treatment
'protocols' and punish doctors found to be doing unethical practices.
10. After this show people just lost their mind. They must use
their brain coz it’s a sensitive issue. Aisa na ho ki real me surgical
emergency ho but wo doctor badal le ye soch k ki doctor ka paise thagne ka bahana hai!!
11. Have regulation over pharmacy companies. They are the real
money maker. Doctors are just the apparent culprit. Regulatory authorities
should also keep a check on the quality of drugs being manufactured and at
the same time 'sold' at the local chemist.
12. Jb hamare top leaders and stars private me treatment
karayenge to govt. doctors pe bharosha kaun karega. . They often
prefer foreign doctors and corporate hospitals.
13. Doctors too r human being. They too need money for survival.
So people should not exaggerate the GODness of them. But yes it’s true
that bad intention is always a shin either in a doctor, a businessman, an
actor, politician, a bureaucrats or a common man!
These are just a few points I can think of at the moment. I am
sure had you bothered to have a panel discussion and find solutions in a
healthy way, we could come up with a lot more viable solutions. However you
chose to sensationalize your show, by hiring 'few' people with 'fake' or
'amplified' problems and shed a few tears. Hope you understand that Your
allegations like 'HAMARE DESH KE DOCTORS ITNE BIMAAR KYUN HAIN'
and 'MAUT KE SAUDAGAR' are as serious as calling all actors 'Rapists' (after
the shiney ahuja incident ) and all Muslims 'Terrorists'
.Knowing that you twisted not one but many
known medical 'facts' to strike a chord with the 'ignorant' 'naive' audience,
How do you expect me to have faith in you and the stories you would project in the
upcoming shows. You have betrayed a large segment of the 'classes' as well as
'masses'. All i can say is I feel sad for the death of the 'image' you created
in our minds and hearts. An unbiased Aamir who strives for nothing but the
truth and the betterment of the society was after all a MYTH. Condolences….
In the end I would just like to narrate this poem...
Box me up n send me home,
Put my papers on my chest,
N tell my mom I did my best,
N tell my dad not to bow,
He will not get tension from me now,
Tell my brother study perfectly,
Keys of my scooty will b his permanently,
Tell my sis don’t b upset,
Her sister will not rise after this sunset,
Don’t tell my frndz they r hearties,
N start to ask for parties,
Tell my love not to cry..coz
" I'M A DOCTER..
BORN TO DIE...”
Source:- a medico’s diary
http://medicosdiary.blogspot.in
