Biren Hari Saraswati15 hrs · 

LETTER - A MUST SHARE POST BY ALL DOCTORS N MEDICOS

DOCTORS VS AAMIR KHAN Letter no.3

A letter to anIgnorant Perfectionist

Dear Mr.Aamir Khan,

I have been tryinghard but cannot get over the fact that you can 'sell'ignorance with such easeand honour.

Though I agree to 'parts' of your show ,

Letsfirst get the facts right.

1) You said patients on dialysis live upto 15-20 years. Fact - The 5 yearsurvival rate of patientson dialysis is about 25-30 % ( less than manycancers). Renal transplantremains the best available treatment option for chronic kidney disease. (I hopeyou take responsibility for people who afterwatching your show plan to not gofor kidney transplant and die in less than 5 years)

2) Anoverenthusiastic girl from the audience said thather father was forced for anemergency liver transplant '6-7 years' ago forgastroenteritis. Fact- Eventoday there are ' a handful' of hospitals in India offering liver transplants.To think that 6-7 years ago , just a gastroenteritispatient was offered livertransplant is not only improbable but technicallyimpossible.

3) A diabetic patientblamed a doctor for losing a toe. Fact- Lacs ofdiabetic patients per year loseentire limbs due to diabetic foot ( cellulitis andgangrene) . Doctors go aboutstepwise cutting off toes , then foot , even the leg upto above knee level inorder to save as much limb as possible. The patientin your show might still beable to walk just because of the timely action takenby the surgeon.

Mr. Aamir Khan i amnot getting back at you because i took your show

personally. Yes , I agree thatthere are doctors indulging in shamefulmalpractices and even i know a few ofthem. But i can proudly say i am surrounded by more doctors who work day andnight just to ensure that their patients get the bestpossible treatment..The'BAD' doctors should be punished and we all cancome together to ensure we donot encourage such malpractices.

Secondly i would haveappreciated if you would have thrown some lighton the entrance examinations and the hard work , dedication and sacrifices a doctorneeds to clear his MBBS, MD,DM etc examinations. I wish you had spent half a day in theemergency department and OPD of a Govt. Hospital and realised that the worktimings, working conditions, lunch breaks,doctor : patient ratio, hours ofsleep per week , living conditions in the hostel and the stipend is worse thana class 4 labourer. You would have also surprisingly realised that the'DOCTORS' are the only 'FUNCTIONAL' part of a Govt.Hospital which still catersto thousands of patients in a day. When you compared statistics of U.K andIndia , why didnt you include the salaries, livingstandards and the doctor:patient ratio the doctors have in developedcountries.

Coming to genericdrugs, Yes, a large amount of rural populationshould have access to cheapgeneric drugs. But one should not forget thepharma companies that charge morefor the drugs are the ones that spend crores of rupees for research anddevelopment of new drugs. Had there not beendrug trials no new drugs wouldhave been invented and we would have mortality rates compared to stone age.

Also i agree thatmost doctors endorse certain brands of drugs( which i do not deny may be fors ome financial gains also ) because thay have faithin the quality of the'active drug' of certain companies. Yes many local companies manufacturegeneric products ( which is a copy of the originalmolecule discovered by theexpensive company which can be used forunaffordable patients. But you did not mention thatmany of these generic drugs are of substandard quality and are the reason ofmany uncalled for deaths dueto drug reactions. Most doctors would not want to

take responsibilty of thequality of the 'generic' drugs.

Lastly, What do youmean when you say ' People of high IQ and desireto earn money should notbecome doctors'.

Why arent doctors allowed tohave an ambition ?? How can aperson who earns 4 crores for an episode of a so called 'social' show decide onwhat should be an individual's ambition andfinancial staus !! Why can there beno doctors who earn well for their professionalskills and do not indulge inmalpractices ?!

It just reflects your hypocrisy. I would like to offer a few solutions to the problem.

a) ' BAD' doctorsindulging in malpractices should be suspended forlife. We need a strongregulatory authority to publish expected treatment'protocols' and punishdoctors found to be doing unethical practices.

b) Regulatoryauthorities should also keep a check on the qualityof drugs being manufactured and at the same time 'sold' at the local chemist.

c) Govt. medicalcolleges and hospitals should multiply several folds,increasing the number ofdoctors in each department , improving the doctor:patient ratio. Doctor'ssalaries and living conditions should be looked after and should be comparable to other professionals.

d) Regular CME'S andlicensing exams ( like other countries) every 5-10years.

e) The Govt. shouldspend 6-8% of GDP ON HEALTHCARE and a part of which should also be committed to the research and development of newer drugs.

f) No politician should be allowed to be associated with anyprivate medical colleges.

g) The general publicshould be educated well about common diseasesand the 'acceptable'qualifications of the doctors.

These are just a fewpoints i can think of at the moment. I am sure hadyou bothered to have a paneldiscussion and find solutions in a healthy way, Wecould come up with a lotmore viable solutions.

However you chose tosensationalise your show, by hiring 'few' peoplewith 'fake' or 'amplified'problems and shed a few tears.

Hope you understandthat Your allegations like 'HAMARE DESH KEDOCTORS ITNE BIMAAR KYUN HAIN' and'MAUT KE SAUDAGAR' are as serious as calling allactors 'Rapists' (after the shiney ahuja incident ) and all Muslims 'Terrorists' . Knowing that youtwisted not one but not many known medical'facts' to strike a chord with the'ignorant' 'naive' audience, How do you expect me to have faith in you and thestories you would project in the upcoming shows. You have betrayed a largesegment of the 'classes' as well as 'masses'.

All i can say is i feel sad for the death of the 'image' you created inour minds and hearts. Anunbiased Aamir who strives for nothing but thetruth and the betterment of thesociety was after all a MYTH.

Condolences,

An honest Doctor.Like Like  ·  · Share

Vivek Kamath , Anju Basu and 9 others like this.

4 shares

Vivek Kamath Very well written article,hope it has answered all ur queries Mr Amir khan.14 hrs · Like

Vivek Sharma Very nice reply.7 hrs · Like

Vsn Raju Impeccable ! Poor Amir will have no face to see a doctor when him or his kith or kin, God forbid, fall sick. It is easy to say, difficult to digest & impossible to erase any comment. Dear Aamir, your image in my imagination has gone shambles, re.. None of us ever expected you to speak callous nonsense, Be aware before you utter. Everybody knows why, who, how, when a person chooses the silver screen for a livelihood. Doctors are often the best of the society, in heart and soul. Would you believe that I toiled the whole day, today as every other day, reached home at 11.25 pm and rushed back to casualty by 11 55 pm to care for a road hit? This is routine for most of us, more so

when not in Govt. service. Pl. leave you opinion & get to facts. If you want to do good, encourage every family to make a doctor or a nurse. make qualified doctors replace the RMPs. They have been doing good, of course, doing good to the best of their ability. Some of them earn more than a specialist, Don't you know that, pooh..! we all know how much is the role of God in our country. May God Bless you with wisdom. Thanks, I need to rush to the OR.2 mins · Like