On 18 June 2020, Dr. C. S. Pramesh, the Director of the Tata Memorial Hospital texted me a message and then called me asking if I would be willing to do a talk on Covid and research during Pandemic. A day after. Although I had little time to prepare, I didnโt blink an eyelid to …
Hydroxychloroquine and Covid: More Questions than Answers
WHO had resumed trials of the drug hydroxychloroquine as a part of the Solidarity Trial to find a cure for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. The trial had been stopped because a study published in The Lancet said the drug wasn’t as effective as touted. This study is now under the scanner after investigation by the …
Covid Vaccines
How are COVID-19 vaccines being developed? Several drugmakers have announced that they are moving to Phase 2 of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials; the Oxford vaccine by Serum Institute of India backed by Adar Poonawala has started Phase 3 clinical trials. What do these phases mean? Should we think that we are close to a getting …
Primum Non Nocere
No other drug, at least in the early phase of Covid pandemic, evoked as much interest, publicity, blind and demand as Hydroxychloroquine did. It took a couple of well -designed randomized controlled trials to indicate that the drug does not work, and is associated with serious adverse events when used to prevent or treat Covid. …
Hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19: Can we go back to science?
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been the biggest buzzword across the world lately. Until December 2019, this was a meek drug, used mainly by rheumatologists, internists, and dermatologists for inflammatory diseases. Its cousin Chloroquine has been the most popular drug for malaria. We have known and used these drugs for decades. The antiviral properties of these drugs …
Hydroxychloroquine and Covid
I woke up this morning, thinking about Hydroxychloroquine and COVID__19 . And wrote a poem…
GMC Nagpur. Class of 1973
This book profiles the art and craft of the class of 1973. A class that is 48-year-old now. It seems like it was only yesterday that we got into Government Medical College Nagpur. 45 years after our admission, when we paused to reflect on how we changed and evolved between 1973 and 2018, we realized …
Palliative care at Sevagram
Two years ago, Dr. Sankha Mitraโan oncologist who is keen to reduce inequity, injustice and alleviate healthcare-induced povertyโ had visited Sevagram. He spoke a sentence that was an eye-opener for the audience. โIn India, the poor die in agony in neglect; the middle-class die in agony in ignorance and the rich die in agony on …
Repairing the heart defects
One in 200. A chance that a mother would deliver a baby with heart disease. And some of these heart defects are serious enough to warrant early intervention. A piece of good news is that some holes in the heart, stenosed valves and abnormal connections between the great arteries can be repaired without open heart …
Bhau: Tryst with Tiger
1962. Balwadi, a small village bordering Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, those days was enveloped by thick and dense forests that offered a home to quite a few panthers. These predators time and again would cross the thin boundary between the forest and the village and could be spotted in the village. Their sight would evoke …