11/23/17, 6:37:49 AM: Dr. Vivek Jawali: I was not surprised to see this ‘ tragic story of yet another gullible Patient -wronged by the unscrupulous Private Hospital’ hogging the headlines of the TOI , because bashing the private healthcare sector is the new norm nowadays .
But what made me certainly curious is , how the mainstream media has turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the raging preposterously draconian and contentious Karnataka Private Medical establishment bill Amendment fiasco , for so long !
The desperate Siddharamiah who is heading the most corrupt and inefficient government ever to take charge , is trying to introduce this amendment , one in a string of quick fix populist moves , to coverup his deficiencies .
The whole Karnataka medical fraternity , including the revered doyen of medical fraternity in India , and a noted philanthropist, Dr Devi Shetty of Narayana Hridayalaya , has strongly criticised the illogical amendment , which makes practise of private doctors almost impossible .
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Some important points to be pondered in the Fortis case
1. The fortis hospitalGurgaon did not solicit the patient and his attendants to get admitted there .Fortis hospital Gurgaon is one of the most top end Hospitals in terms of its charges and offered range of services , and the Patient party chose to admit their sick child on their own will . Moreover ,The tentative costs of all stay , investigations , medications are apprised to the Patient party on a daily basis , and all procedures are done only after taking prior consent .
2. The child was already brought in the most serious condition ,with the worst complications of dengue .
3. The get a bill of 16.7 lakhs in 15 days is not so surprising , considerations the fact that she was given the most advance life saving treatment that is possible only in the best setups in the world .
4. The cost of similar treatment would be atleast five to six times more ( or even more ) in any other country where it can be made available .
5. The Health Minster of India may find it ‘ very exorbitant ‘ because no government setup provides such advance treatment .
6. All past governments have miserablely failed to upgrade the healthcare infrastructure in indo , and they have the gumption to play judges in such cases !
7. Why did the media not ask them why the Patient party was forced to go to fortis , and not to a government setup ( obviously , because none of the other Government hospitals had the wherewithal to manage such critical cases )
8. For Naddaji ( and other Sarkari Babus ) and most of the media ‘s uneducated crowd , ignorance is bliss and mudslinging without any evidence is their fovourite past time .
9. The only thing that went wrong in this whole episode is that the child died . Though the patient was insured , but it got exhausted and they had to shell out a large chunk from their pockets , and that is where all the grumbling and accusation is coming from .
10. Our Indian people are still not mature enough to understand that medical treatment cannot be a hundred pc gauranteed success deal , more so in in Critical cases (But interestingly the same naive people very sagaciously except this when they go to a lawyer with a weak case , and when he is unable to win the case for them , they dare not ask to waive off their fees or cry foul )
11. While more and more international patients are flocking towards India in hordes , to get treatment by the ‘ good Indian Private hospitals and doctors ‘ , ironically , thanks to the media misinformation campaign and sensationalism , Indian private healthcare is being demonised in their own country . Such irresponsible news stories are only going to drive a wedge of suspicion and insecurity between doctors and the patients ; like it is in the west , leading to more and more escalation of treatment costs .
12. Let their be an audit of this particular case , and in case the hospital is exonerated of any wrong doing ( which is almost sure , looking at the merits of the case ) , the Patient party should be slapped with a case of defamation , for the flurry of wild and preposterous allegations made by them . It has become a trend nowadays to ‘ spit and run ‘ .And they are always forgiven with the excuse that they are under tremendous mental and emotional stress , so they are entitled to react in any irrational manner .
13. its high time Private healthcare take a leaf from ArunJaitley in handling a delinquent and motormouth Kejriwal , who used to run amok too frequently .
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Meanwhile , ex Minister Dashmushi left the world on the same day , without notice , after spending 9 long years in coma , and paying many crores in his treatment , without accusations flying on the hospital — because that was paid by the government.
Nobody asked why he was being treated for so long when he was already in coma , why the hospital charged so heavily for a coma Pt , and why did he die finally , despite such specialised care !
End of the day , it’s all about the money that makes people turn Hostile against hospitals and make wild allegations , as an afterthought
( readers are encouraged to find out the per day cost of a PICU treatment of critically sick Patient with multiple complications on ventilator, CRRT , chest tube etc .
Also find out what it may cost in a western country )