As with anyone else, doctors also have only one
life, which they choose to spend helping others. In the modern era, it is a crime
to be living for others. Doctors are next to God, very respectable, yet their
mistakes become villainous immediately when something goes wrong.
As for the other side, like in every field, there are greedy among doctors. They ruin the reputation of the profession. But a single doctor cannot do anything. Those who try to change the system are boycotted, thrown away or maligned. Every doctor cannot afford to start a hospital of his own. He has to choose a specialty hospital which has all the facilities to practice his specialty. These come at a price. There is heavy money to be paid for the machines, acquiring the skills, manpower, and the maintenance required to make these facilities available. Hospitals have their systems. A single doctor cannot change them. Also, not all hospitals are corrupt.
The Medical councils do not have any protocol / system to protect a doctor who faces vindictive attitude from hospitals if he / she want to argue. Many specialists have already left India, never to return back due to this one reason. Because specialist practice is based upon referrals, and where most of the referral system itself is corrupt, one has little hope of survival especially in a decent city / town.
Doctors are a weak vote bank, hence not on priority of any party. It is more practical for the politicians to openly criticize the doctor / profession in hope of gaining public sympathy / attention. No one wants to attend to their problems, which are many.
The medical council never protects any doctor against court cases or a hospital victimizing them for fighting against corruption. The regulations made are primitive. It is not that the medical council does not know about the prevalent corruption, but it opts to fit in some screws when the whole building needs extensive repairs.
One’s degree and education of many years becomes meaningless in the eyes of medical council just because there is delay in renewal of licenses. While many people practice without degrees or knowledge, the councils choose to target the qualified for not renewing their licenses. It includes a process that involves acquiring points by attending conferences. The money for most such events, travel etc. comes from pharmaceutical companies. They do not have the online option of conferences / license renewal like most western countries, even in this advanced age. So a doctor is expected to leave his town and practice, get involved in events sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, travel with their help, stay in hotels with their money so as to renew his license, but not online. And there is no compulsion that he has to attend the event for his specialty. So a neurologist can attend a gynecology event just for conference points and it is alright for the renewal of his Neurology license. One can even easily get such points without attending the event. There has to be an online option, or a rethinking of this whole business, and an option to do it without involving pharmaceutical companies.
Also, most of the medical insurance companies in India are fraud. They do not pay for OPD consultation / investigations of a patient, even if serious, or patients with genuine illness, if no injectable drugs are used and / or surgery is not performed, or when they do not understand the diagnosis, or the fact that some cases do not have a proper diagnosis, or emergency / critical care / specialist charges etc. Even when they pay, it is their choice how much.
It leads to many wrong practices. In a medical insurance case, no one benefits except the company. The patients, hospitals and doctors, all lose. Still, the medical council does not want to do anything.
Add to these the incessant calls for any enquiries that pop up in the patient’s or relatives (usually the cousin in America) mind at any time of the day or night, and bitter words to follow if reply is delayed. (“That doctor has advised this particular line of treatment, what is your opinion?”) No doctor from the western world gives his mobile phone number to patients. Then there are many patients whose children stay abroad, but leave their parents back in India. They expect the same care but at a low price, and also a daily update by the treating doctor. They don’t want to come and attend their dying parents, but vent out this guilt in form of anger towards the treating doctor (“Do everything doctor, don’t worry about the money” or “I am unable to come to attend my father because of business meetings/ no tickets / kid’s exams” etc).
A doctor should not be held negligent if the patient does not follow advice as written, or continues doing anything that the doctor has prohibited, does not follow up as directed, does not show the same care towards his own life that the doctor is expected to take, has not given all correct information about himself / herself / his/ her illness, hidden some information from the treating doctor, has lost treatment details, self medication / cross consultation without knowledge of the doctor, resulting in multiple medications, or has had unknown allergies / reactions in the past. There should be a doctor’s board for each specialty which opines about every particular medico-legal case before the court makes its final decision.
If the whole medical system becomes non corrupt, patients will end up paying far higher consultation / surgical fees than what is paid now. This is inevitable. Add the legalities to everything, and many specialists will become non-affordable / non available to most. Many who get free treatment now would be denied the privilege. Else, the next generations will see less and less specialists opting to settle in India.
Doctors love their profession, love their country, and love their patients too. But they also deserve a good life. May God always guide doctors to always do good to their patients.
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