Reflections on Medicine and Life by Dr. S.P. Kalantri
Pushpa, my elder sister, was born on 17 May 1946, fifteen months before India became independent. I always called her Jiji, and never by first name. She was the third of the six siblings, and like all of them; she too was delivered at home that my father rented in Marwari Mohalla, Wardha. Education Class … Read the essay
Snake bite is common in our area. Every year, we admit about 200 people with venomous snakebites to MGIMS, our teaching hospital, 10% of who die. Is it possible to distinguish survivors from non-survivors? Can we use simple signs and symptoms and labs to do so? Here is my Powerpoint presentation: I spoke on this … Read the essay
India has the world’s second-largest COVID-19 outbreak. India desperately needs effective treatments. But the way the country’s drug regulator is handling potential therapies concerns many of us. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved several repurposed drugs for ‘restricted emergency use’ for treating the disease. On what basis were these drugs approved? Was … Read the essay
Ten thousand. This five-numerical figure has fascinated people for a long time. As an example, Sunil Gavaskar’s 10,000th run. I can vividly recall Gavaskar nudging a quick single through the slips to become the first cricketer to reach 10,000 test runs. I had watched that moment on TV—the fourth test match against Pakistan at Ahmedabad … Read the essay
My colleagues and I wrote our concern in Lancet Infect Dis about the inappropriate and irrational use of Hydroxychloroquine for preventing and treating Covid in India. We wrote this when the pandemic had just started. The Indian Council of Medical Research, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has recommended chemoprophylaxis with hydroxychloroquine for … Read the essay