Dear Doctor fraternity,Kindly excuse.These are all but facts. May be,there are a few exceptions here and there. How Indian Doctors Loot Patients. Most of these observations are either completely or partially true. Corruption has many names, and one of civil society isn't innocent either. Professionals and businessmen of various sorts indulge in unscrupulous practices. I recently had a chat with some doctors, surgeons and owners of nursing homes about the tricks of their trade. Here is what they said 1) 40-60% kickbacks for lab tests. When a doctor (whether family doctor / general physician, consultant or surgeon) prescribes tests - pathology, radiology, X-rays, MRIs etc. - the laboratory conducting those tests gives commissions. In South and Central Mumbai -- 40%. In the suburbs north of Bandra -- a whopping 60 per cent! He probably earns a lot more in this way than the consulting fees that you pay. 2) 30-40% for referring to consultants, specialists & surgeons. When your friendly GP refers you to a specialist or surgeon, he gets 30-40%. 3) 30-40% of total hospital charges. If the GP or consultant recommends hospitalization, he will receive kickback from the private nursing home as a percentage of all charges including ICU, bed, nursing care, surgery. 4) Sink tests. Some tests prescribed by doctors are not needed. They are there to inflate bills and commissions. The pathology lab understands what is unnecessary. These are called "sink tests"; blood, urine, stool samples collected will be thrown. 5) Admitting the patient to "keep him under observation". People go to cardiologists feeling unwell and anxious. Most of them aren't really having a heart attack, and cardiologists and family doctors are well aware of this. They admit such safe patients, put them on a saline drip with mild sedation, and send them home after 3-4 days after charging them a fat amount for ICU, bed charges, visiting doctors fees. 6) ICU minus intensive care. Nursing homes all over the suburbs are run by doctor couples or as one-man-shows. In such places, nurses and ward boys are 10th class drop-outs in ill-fitting uniforms and bare feet. These "nurses" sit at the reception counter, give injections and saline drips, perform ECGs, apply dressings and change bandages, and assist in the operation theatre. At night, they even sit outside the Intensive Care Units; there is no resident doctor. In case of a crisis, the doctor -- who usually lives in the same building -- will turn up after 20 minutes, after this nurse calls him. Such ICUs admit safe patients to fill up beds. Genuine patients who require emergency care are sent elsewhere to hospitals having a Resident Medical Officer (RMO) round-the-clock. 7) Unnecessary caesarean surgeries and hysterectomies. Many surgical procedures are done to keep the cash register ringing. Caesarean deliveries and hysterectomy (removal of uterus) are high on the list. While the woman with labour -pains is screaming and panicking, the obstetrician who gently suggests that caesarean is best seems like an angel sent by God! Menopausal women experience bodily changes that make them nervous and gullible. They can be frightened by words like " and "fibroids" that are in almost every normal woman's radiology reports. When a gynaecologist gently suggests womb removal "as a precaution", most women and their husbands agree without a second's thought. 8) Cosmetic surgery advertized through newspapers.Liposuction and plastic surgery are not minor procedures. Some are life-threateningly major. But advertisements make them appear as easy as facials and waxing. The Indian medical council has strict rules against such misrepresentation. But nobody is interested in taking action. 9) Indirect kickbacks from doctors to prestigious hospitals. To be on the panel of a prestigious hospital, there is give-and-take involved. The hospital expects the doctor to refer many patients for hospital admission. If he fails to send a certain number of patients, he is quietly dumped. And so he likes to admit patients even when there is no need. 10) "Emergency surgery" on dead body. If a surgeon hurriedly wheels your patient from the Intensive Care Unit to the operation theatre, refuses to let you go inside and see him, and wants your signature on the consent form for "an emergency operation to save his life", it is likely that your patient is already dead. The "emergency operation" is for inflating the bill; if you agree for it, the surgeon will come out 15 minutes later and report that your patient died on the operation table. And then, when you take delivery of the dead body, you will pay OT charges, anaesthesiologist's charges, blah-blah- Doctors are humans too. You can't trust them blindly. Please understand the difference. Young surgeons and old ones. The young ones who are setting up nursing home etc. have heavy loans to settle. To pay back the loan, they have to perform as many operations as possible. Also, to build a reputation, they have to perform a large number of operations and develop their skills. So, at first, every case seems fit for cutting. But with age, experience and prosperity, many surgeons lose their taste for cutting, and stop recommending operations. [B]Physicians and surgeons. To a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Surgeons like to [/B][SIZE=4]solve medical problems by cutting, just as physicians first seek solutions with drugs. So, if you take your medical problem to a surgeon first, the chances are that you will unnecessarily end up on the operation table. Instead, please go to an ordinary [U]GP first[/U][/SIZE] Jayasala42
Jayasala No offence. How old are you? You are acting as if you were born in satyug ( Lord Rama's era) and now you are in Kalyug. This commission and making money is not just in Doctor's profession, it is in every profession. 1. Do you own a car or a 2 wheeler? Ask a Mechanic " Do I need repairs" and he will give you a list of "recommended" services. 2. Do you have a house? Ask a plumber or painter or anyone doing house remodelling and he will give you list of charges. 3. Have you ever travelled by rickshaw or taxi to a remote place? The driver would sense that you are new to that area and would charge more tariff. It happens in each and every profession. P.S. Maybe next time you can unbold and use the average font
I had one such traumatic experience very recently when my 2 and half year old kid fell ill. he had dry cough and fever, we were referred to one big hospitals in hyderbad and paeditrician there didn't bother to check, asked us to admit him right away, did all kinda blood tests, dips , x rays what not. 10 doctors visited saying mild lower respiratory infection, upper respiratory infection while x ray showed chest is clear. he was admitted in the noght and very next day he was feeling better and they were reluctant to discharge.finally one senior doctor came in the afternoon and ruled out medicines saying just because of swelling of tonsils..that too he was discussing with junior doctor..they dint let us know..by then we had 10 syrup bottles and nurses coming often for nebulization..finally they were hesitatnt to take those iv needles until and unless we clear our bills. it delayed insurance approval as they raise query for three times and I couldn't see my son in pain, I paid in cash and got him discharged the 3rd day.
While there are unscrupulous people in every profession, I do not think it's always wise to denounce medical decisions as looting if the outcome is favourable for the patient. If a pregnant woman or her child dies during the process of a normal delivery, do you think her relatives will not accuse the doctor of negligence, assault him/her, damage property, file a case due to negligence etc etc ? Their first question will be whether they had asked the doctor to save their money. Same for a cardiologist. If he/she takes a potential risk and the patient dies, who's going to be in the dock ? The same goes for gynecologists who detect growths but choose to ignore them. I would not venture claims about operations on dead bodies. It may be a patient clinging to life, who an untrained eye may mistake as dead. My comatose aunt was considered dead by people 20 years ago, till specialist doctors stepped in. She is still alive and in good health today. I have also heard that some hospitals video record operations and provide copies to patients' relatives to counter claims like the patient being dead already. In my opinion, more than doctors, the diagnostic centres and pharma companies are as much to blame. While the doctors do have a humanitarian duty, these people have none. Everything said and done, it isn't wise to tar everyone with the same brush. I also feel that approaching a GP need not be the solution. What is the guarantee that the GP is going to play fair, not take risks and refer critical cases at the last moment to avoid blame. Also, there is no social security for doctors or for that matter, other self-employed people. If a doctor dies before he/she earns enough, pays off loans, who looks after them ? Other self-employed people like businessmen are luckier in that respect since they need not make any excuses for earning ! P.S. I am not a doctor or anyway associated with the medical profession.
The prevailing of looting in every other profession cannot be a justifiable pretext under which doctors also can loot.The acceptance of all these things,even in this kaliyug pains us a lot, though we are unable to do anything. Off the topic:- The other day Ihe New Indian Express repoted that there is nearly 26% og raping incidents in Tamilnadu alone inter alia adding a substantiation by Women activists that the increase does mean that Tamilnadu has become an unsafe place for women. It simply denotes that women have become so much empowered that they come forward to complain about such incidents in open. Does it mean that raping is a natural acceptable feature which has been happening as a matter of routine and the EMPOWERMENT, I don't know what it is,has reached an appreciable level of making women report about the shameful occurrences, which society expects us to accept and be calm. Jayasala42
