An apple a day keeps the doctor away. This old adage was so true in the bygone years. People wanted to stay healthy. They feared illnesses, for reasons of disruption in smooth living or inconveniences caused to people in the family and the illness itself for what it did to the affected individual. But now the adage seems to have undergone a paradigm shift. One more factor has got attached to the list above. Ever so often it is true now that “The doctor often is more to be feared than the disease itself”. Surely you have heard of stories that make you believe in it.

The doctor often is more to be feared than the disease itself

The Accusation

Indian film star Aamir Khan’s path breaking show Satyameva Jayate on Star TV aired an episode on the same lines in their first season in the episode. The episode brought to light some malpractices by doctors – cut-practices, irresponsible behavior, unnecessary surgeries, inflated prescriptions, malpractices by pharma companies, pharma-physician nexus to name a few. Have the morals of a community that evoked so much respect in the past been eroded to this extent? What are the repercussions of this and how damaging is it to the section that refrains from all this?

It definitely has affected a cross-section of practitioners. One succumbs to the temptations in life, the opportunity to recover expenses in the training itself, adapting to a higher standard of living and so on.
Ever so often we hear of cases – The image of a Doctor has definitely got tainted. Instances of violence against them stem from such negative experiences. They cost some of the victims very dearly. The statistics are alarming –

Ever so often we hear of cases – The image of a Doctor has definitely got tainted.

The repercussions

Nearly 75% doctors in India have faced either verbal or physical violence during their lifetime, says the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in a report of ‘The Lancet’—one of the oldest medical journals in the world. Also, violence can be in the form of verbal abuses, vandalism of hospital and its equipment, physical abuse, threats, and even death.

Nearly 75% doctors in India have faced either verbal or physical violence during their lifetime, says the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in a report of ‘The Lancet’—one of the oldest medical journals in the world.

The numbers are rising world-over. Is this fair and do they deserve such treatment? No doctor is going to want ill of a patient. After all, he has his reputation to protect, his patients to nurture and his experiences to make him grow. Then what is it? Inexperience, hurried diagnoses, lack of infrastructure, communication gap or just simply bad luck. Anything could be the reason.  

No doctor is going to want ill of a patient. After all, he has his reputation to protect, his patients to nurture and his experiences to make him grow

Moving On

So let us not delve into what is right and what is not. Whatever we decide here and now, will be nullified by one more contrasting case. But what is the way out? Government intervention is a must. Consulting a panel of doctors or at least taking more than one opinion can be helpful. Very often more than one specialist is not available at a location or may not be accessible.

But what is the way out? Government intervention is a must. Consulting a panel of doctors or at least taking more than one opinion can be helpful

Specialist doctors for medical opinion

Websites like my-healthconnect have a definitive role to play in such situations. Register yourself, upload your reports and seek another opinion from among their panel of medical professionals. The more the number of patients who register, the more are the discussions that prevail on the website. More doctors will join the panel and the experience will be enriched. The learnings from experiences of others are useful too. You can rule out any questions that you may have and go ahead with any procedure with more confidence. All that is truly required is trust and my-healthconnect bridges this bond of trust between a doctor and his patient.