Patients too get abused, who is there for them?

 

The other side.

A doctor was needlessly humiliated. There was a furor about the incident and rightly so. The public stood firm behind the doctor and the Minister had to apologize. The doctor seeks an apology in the hospital. The doctor's suspension has been revoked. Justice is served. The highhandedness of the Minister was condemned. There will be further action against him.

What about the highhandedness of the doctors and healthcare personnel? Almost all of us have faced it. Medical decisions thrust down our gullet. Being humiliated for trying to put across a point. Trying to get through the urgency of the case or questioning the prescription because of previous reactions and being told to shut up. Rebuked for taking health decisions on our own. The famous words "So you know better than me?" are delivered globally.

The list is long. Doctors think they have the right to such behavior. They are, after all, the boss. Studies have highlighted that the doctor patient relationship is an unequal one with no solution in sight.

I will never forget my own harrowing experience. All I was doing was trying to point out that I was grievously hurt and I needed the cause to be acknowledged to get the right treatment.

The mighty medical associations batted for the doctor. The big guns came out with their guns blazing. These powerful forces are never seen trying to get justice for the millions of Indians who suffer from medical misadventures every year.

Currently two videos are circulating. One about a person being slapped repeatedly by two on duty policemen in a hospital for questioning the death of his father. The other about an elderly person being beaten and dragged out by doctors. Such incidents do not create a national furor because we have become accustomed to them.

I remember when a doctor fought for many years and was finally able to get justice for his dead wife who died due to medical malpractice. He was able to do it because of his technical knowledge and degree. The big shots resented it. They publicly condemned the penalty awarded and said that it set a bad precedent.

Doctors themselves are wary of the system. The medical associations are silent about the many anomalies that exist in the system and the resultant plight of doctors. How can we expect these associations to take up cudgels on behalf of the patient?

Members of the profession never hide their highhandedness. It is in full display and all are supposed to bow down and accept.

I have written about how vulnerable the patient is under this system and demanded that patients too be protected by an ordinance. Violence against patients take various forms and the consequences are severe. The very act of protocols being blindly followed without regard for consequences has horrendous impacts as demonstrated during Covid times. Did anyone apologize?

But then inequality is the name of the game.

May doctors always get justice. May they always be treated like God's. May their tribe prosper. Who are we, mere mortals, to find fault with them?