Science, Stories and Sevagram: A Physician-Teacher's Reflections
In 1958, Ram Mamaji was to get married in Barshi. Bai had already left for Barshi for her younger brother’s marriage with Asha, Ashok, JP and me- I was born a year ago. Pushpa Jiji and Om were left behind in the Bajaj Electricity home (near Durga talkies) in Wardha. Pushpa, just 12-year-old then, would … Read more
The pressure of NEET PG has emptied classrooms. MBBS students feel that learning medicine while attending patients will not get them a postgraduate set. The process of training and learning for medical students has been deeply affected by NEET. How did NEET affect the training of medical students in India? It has decimated the joy … Read more
I delivered a keynote address on the occasion of the valedictory function of the 4th International Snakebite Awareness day organized by the Clinical Toxicology Unit and Poisons Information Center, Christian Medical College, Vellore. I spoke on “Challenges and prospects of snakebite management in India” in a virtual event conducted on September 18th, 2021.
Kasturba Hospital. What, why, how, where and when? A PowerPoint presentation.
The ICMR has increasingly drawn criticism from India’s doctors and scientists, who have questioned its drug recommendations & lack of transparency on data related to variants. Countrywide, doctors started writing these prescriptions, which artificially inflated the cost for Covid management,” I said. “Big Pharma was laughing all the way to the bank and ultimately the … Read more
Covid 19 and children. There is just a one in hundred chance that a child would test positive for Covid and would require a hospital admission.
High hospital bills and black marketing of drugs and oxygen make the treatment of Covid-19 prohibitively expensive. Malini Aisola, co-convenor of the All India Drug Action Network, ET’s Kiran Somvanshi and I discuss the flaws in the existing setup and the steps to fix the financial burden of Covid-19.
How do we deal with Covid-19 in Indian villages? We must empower primary health centres, where people are familiar with the doctors and healthcare workers; provide adequate training and resources; and weed out unnecessary drugs and investigations. Also, make vaccinations available close to people’s homes. I speak to Indiaspend.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. So I asked my colleague to read to me the recent COVID-19 guidelines from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), in the Union health ministry. I couldn’t believe my ears either. The nine-page PDF document talks about how to treat, investigate and monitor patients with a COVID-19 infection. What are the … Read more
Remdesivir. Hydroxychloroquine apart, no drug during the current pandemic created as much controversy, generated as much hope, led to as much black marketing and eniced as many physicians and people as Remdesivir did. I was not sure if remdesivir indeed reduced the chances of dying in hospitalised patients and wondered if the hype and hope … Read more