“Medical care is sought after and delivered with all sincerity and kindness. It is never meant to be sold over the counter” My mentor and respectful professor used to tell us, many decades ago during our undergraduation days. 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, there is 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. In a hemodynamic perspective it is largely benign arrhythmia , 95% of which can be managed with simple rate modulating drugs like Digoxin and Beta blockers .The costly and often riskier catheter based rhythm restoring 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 for AF directly to the public.The funny thing in the ad is , while India is grappling with the task of providing basic health amenities like ECG machines in every primary health center , yet this ad expresses serious concern about the low penetration of a new, cost-ineffective, technology called “pulse field ablation” to treat AF.
Final message
I think, Govt of India should seriously consider banning such adverse health Influencing ads. direct to public.
Dr.S.Venkatesan MD 