Mar

7

Can’t carry this on, doctor!

March 7, 2009 posted by indiatime |

In what is being called a ’serious organized crime racket’, police in the state of Gujarat have uncovered a widespread scandal involving doctors and clinics in the state, a scandal that has so far claimed 70 lives by causing hepatitis B. In all those cases, hepatitis B virus was found to be transmitted by hypodermic needles previously used and later repackages and resold in large numbers. In fact, a cache of 75 tons of medial waste was recently confiscated before it made its way to the clinics and hospitals across Gujarat.

The crime racket was said to be operating by short-circuiting the disposal route of the state’s medical waste and recycling that waste directly into the supply chain en route to the hospitals and private clinics. The scandal came to light, thanks to the hepatitis outbreak which is still around and thriving. No word on whether any other life-threatening illnesses or viruses were transferred through the syringes. Many in the state who have received injections over last several months, may already have received unwelcome guests in their bodies, a gift from their unscrupulous and corrupt doctors and pharmacists.

The head of the state’s pollution control board blamed the authorities for failing to act, and has accused them of disregarding the public welfare and of having a misguided high regard for doctors.

But last week, a judge in Chandigarh kept aside his own high regard for doctors, and sentenced Dr Dhariwal, the former chief of thoracic surgery at the prestigious PGI institute, to a stunning 5 years rigorous imprisonment. The chief of surgery was found to have cheated more than 300 patients by implanting substandard cheap valves while overcharging his patients for not just higher cost valves but sometimes charging for multiple valves and implanting just one.

Only a few weeks ago, a New Jersey judge sentenced Dr Pravin Vasoya, an Indian-American doctor to 5 years in jail, for illegally selling pain medications in parking lots. The New Jersey doc’s crime was a lot less serious than the thoracic surgeon’s however. As against the Chandigarh doc screwing up 324 patients’ lives and getting only 5 years jail time, the New Jersey doc had illegally prescribed pain medication only 9 times.

But Dr Motwani, a California eye surgeon got only a 3-year probation last week, when he confessed to assaulting his girlfriend while driving on a freeway, and trying to pass a false prescription.

But all is not lost with India’s medical talent. Just the other night, CNN’s Larry King interviewed Sanjay Gupta, America’s most famous doctor-journalist, after the latter recused himself from the nomination for a surgeon-general spot with the Obama administration. Only time will tell how the medical tourism industry shapes up with these two opposite faces of the Indian medical community. The tough economic times should really fuel the medical tourism boom, considering the health insurance woes in the US. But cases like the hepatitis outbreak in Gujarat are reminders that India needs to do a better job at regulating its medical industry. Medical tourism could be a bigger boom than the IT boom, but reusing needles and implanting faulty heart vales may not be the best ways to get there.


Comments

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind

2 Comments so far

  1. Devender Parmar on March 8, 2009 11:13 am

    Question - How much money does a person want.
    Answer - A lot.

    :( This is really sad because its at the cost of human lives.

  2. David Boots on March 8, 2009 8:32 pm

    Sadly, the dental tourism industry also suffers from similar issues.

Search

 




Most commented

Mumbai's communal overtones signal upcoming elections (475)
Why did Kolkata police murder Rizwanur Rahman? (329)
Ten reasons why India is doing better than Pakistan 60 years after independence (317)
Bun roller millionnaire saves Indicted Swami's buns by posting $10 bond (94)
Top 10 reasons India sucks at the Olympics (64)
Auntie, Corruption bureau and Crime branch (48)
Shah Rukh Khan detained at immigration checkpoint in US (44)
Ishmeet Singh (1989-2008) (39)
And my vote for a modern day wonder goes to.....India! (37)
Convicted Czech scientist flees India (36)


Most visited

Hollywood’s first Indian star
Meeting Raj Kapoor at the barbershop
Madhubala on a postal stamp
Why I’m happier than Mukesh Ambani
An inconvenient truth about India’s intellectual property
UFOs may be ‘idlis’ but time travels only in ‘medu-wadas’
Dr Singh is no Dr King
Lesser Known Indians
The Most ‘Nobel’ Teacher of Them All
The third Indian revered in China
A little Poland in India
The vanishing of Indian languages
The looting of Chandigarh’s treasures
Bharat, Pakistan and Hindustan, Indiana
Welcome to India, Steve!
Top 5 explanations for the president’s gesture
An IIT on every street, an IIM on every block
Pakistan, Jinnah, Wadias and the American anthem
An IAS officer’s nightmare of lustful, lascivious stares comes true