Medical care is sought after, never sold over the counter , my mentor and most respectful professor taught me many decades ago during my undergraduation. That was a bygone era. Forget it, let us come to the real world.
This ad came two days ago in a India’s leading daily :The Hindu
With all three limbs of the medical profession, namely patient care, teaching, and medical research, under the clutches of commerce and industry, it’s no surprise at all to find this ad in the mainstream media.
How big is the AF burden ?
Atrial fibrillation is a common arrhythmia of the elderly. In that sense, it is more prevalent in the western population where life expectancy is high. AF is more of a nuisance arrhythmia in an otherwise normal heart, which requires stroke prevention strategies like antiplatelet agents or OAC/DOACs. It is a largely benign arrhythmia , 95% of which can be managed with simple drugs .The costly and often riskier catheter based rhythm control modalities still have questionable value except in a fraction of the AF population.
What could be the aim and intention of the above advertisement?
Big companies want to sell complex medical devices and procedures directly to the public.The funniest thing in the ad is , while India is grappling with the task of providing basic health amenities in cardiac care like ECG machines in every primary health centers , yet this ad expresses serious concern about the low penetration of a cost-ineffective, but a breakthrough technology called “pulse field ablation” to treat AF.
Final message
I, think Govt of India should seriously think banning such adverse health Influencing ads direct to public.
Dr.S.Venkatesan MD 