Common sense would indicate medical care is meant for the sick and ill . Relieving the mankind from all those suffering with a healing hand has made the medical profession noble and sacred .Medical science grew with this sole aim many centuries ago .Some times we succeeded and many times we failed and the journey is continuing .
In those days ,scientists were dedicated , inventions were genuine and were driven by a need to conquer a diseases .Some where along the line, (May be in the last 2-3 decades?) our quest for money power exceeded commonsense . Commerce entered every walk of life and medical science became the biggest causality.
The purpose of noble profession was forgotten . Simultaneously public awareness and quality if life vastly improved in many of the developed countries . So the traditional illnesses either disappeared or reduced to a great extent . Then came the life style diseases.The cost of treating an illness spiraled too much especially in the scientifically advanced countries . What was perceived as great health care system became the most ridiculed health system in the planet ?
Why ? The simplest answer to this q is
In the name of science and modernity , medical treatment was glorified beyond the level it deserves , and hence the cost of treatment is kept at artificially & foolishly high (This often involves diagnostic exploration of human body with modern gadgets without any meaningful purpose ) .
ie , In a nutshell of modern medicine is often a medical mirage than a miracle . We know , the chances of success as we try to chase it. If we think the world is waking on this issue .
We are in for a surprise ! Even as every one is asking for outcome analysis in modern health care
more and more countries just imitate the failed ( Scientific and moral failure ) western models of health care .
When major illness are reducing in a society what will the health care providers do ?
Feel happy ? Yes that’s what a sane mind would do . In a capital rich , health conscious , knowledge driven society the opposite happens .
When the patient input into a top hospital reduces , the MBAs in them plan strategies to bring increase the bed occupancy rate and maintain patient parity.
If sufficient patients are not there in a community what shall we do ?
Create more patients
Creating new patients is a too dangerous game , what shall we do ?
In the name of preventive screening let us label normal persons as patients .
How to do it ?
The following examples are personal observation made in huge city of educated elite in a developing country . Excuse me if it offends a few . . .
Define, redefine all criteria that define the disease (There are
- Make, 130/85mmhg of blood pressure as pre hypertension and make them visit our HT clinic every month.
- In the name of risk stratification do CRP, Micro HDL , Apo a etc and catch them for primary risk reduction for a non existing illness
- Let us label all the age related bone loss as deadly osteoporosis and do bone graft.
- Let us call the occasional post dinner stiff stomach as non ulcer dyspepsia and insert a endoscope into the patient tummy .
- Do a 64slice CT in a master health check and convert many of the healthy normals into carriers soft coronary plaques.
- Do a ultra sound scan in every one who takes alcohol and give our brains a temptation to label the normal fatty streaks as infiltrative fat disorder .
- Do routine pelvic scan and detect sub clinical fibroid uterus as potentially malignant and post them for hysterectomy on the next operation day.
- Convert all healthy women as a potential cervical cancer and administer herpes vaccine and help the vaccine company share move up in wall street !
- Finally , screen all our playful kids for learning disability and label them as slow attention deficit disorder and make their life permanently miserable .
The list is endless . . .
Final message
We are in a era , where even a simple illness ( common cold ? ) can be converted into a billion dollar industry . ( Are you aware of H1N1 fiasco , The role of WHO and mystery labeling of pandemic !)
While the above misadventure with scientific excesses goes on merrily , lest we forget , millions of children and adults suffer in misery for want of live saving investigations and drugs in any country .
When a person with a head injury dies due a missed subdural hematoma for want of CT scan in one hospital , ” in the adjacent hospital” a wealthy and healthy man ( who got admitted for master health check up ) undergoes a series of scans all over the body even as he is watching the satellite TV in the comfort of a five star suite !
God will never forgive the noble professionals if they are part of this negative health care forces
Finally ending with a very positive note !
The new initiative by Obama , ” Health care for the uninsured ” is to be welcomed as great move and will do a world of good .
But , our only request to WHO ( or related bodies ) is to create a forum or authority to impeach all fancy diseases from the medical literature !
Dr.S.Venkatesan MD 