Shocking mindset of pharma companies ! Who is educating whom ?

News : It seems the pharma companies are worried   about  the new MCI  (Medical council of India ) guidelines  that restrict  sponsorship  for conferences and freebies to individual  doctors  . They think it is a  big set back  as it  may interfere with doctor’s  education and knowledge  !

They have proposed new amendments and  has asked  the health ministry to advice the MCI accordingly .(ie To help them bring back  the corrupt and bad practices  that  influence  doctors prescribing behavior  !)

It is true , for the  growth of medical science , we  require some sort of  a business model and  tax holidays for the companies for true  &  land  mark discoveries  . Currently the MCI allows to sponsor  medical  events or a conference  for an institution or organization .  But  what these companies want is  official permission to provide  incentives to individual doctors and influence them  ! .  More shockingly  they said  doctors knowledge will  suffer without these industrial support . It is an outright insult to all doctors who get educated  for over  decades* . In fact the heads of pharma companies require  few lessons from the medical fraternity  ,  how many drugs with  dubious scientific value  is playing havoc in  health of  the society !

Of course ,we can not blame the pharma companies  for  all . It is a collective evil.

Counter point

*This  is a  second  slap on the face of  medical profession  !  I am  sorry to say this ,  many of us ( Including  the blogger  ! )  are some way responsible for this state of affairs  . Shockingly ,  few of  our  colleagues are  proud  to  have illicit relationship with drug companies !  Younger generation   no longer consider  this as an offense  , since they are born and brought up with  capitation fee as their principal fodder. Commercial forces  has taken over  medical  profession . Many of the  colleges are owned by business barons and alcohol vendors  in India . It is a well known  fact , MBBS seats are now  sold for 50lakhs (like  3 bed room flats )  . Agents transact black money in secret basements of   medical colleges  once considered  as  temple  of  the  noble profession .

So what is  in-store  for the future ? . . .  Self regulation is best  regulation   . . .   Mahatma told us ! . It  may be  the most idealistic     solution   . . . but  currently   it appears   self  regulation is  as bad  as no regulation !

Link to the article

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-04-19/india/38673588_1_pharma-companies-pharma-industry-doctors

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Learning from Ants : Innovations does not require sixth sense !

Modern  men think they are invincible .  They can innovate every thing under the sun with their sixth sense . Alas  . . . we forget  human values  ! .It does not require a least of   that  special sense   . Reaching out to a life in distress   require  an animal sense !

The Antics ! Crossing a bridge with fifth sense ! The Hindu  5th April 2013 Image : Michale Nongthombam.

A bunch of  Ants plan   how to  ferry   a daughter Ant  , across a broken bridge and execute it  efficiently with their tiny little cerebrum !  

While , we boast around  with the  later   . . . still   . . .   there is no end in sight for all those  self   inflicted sufferings . . .   these lesser mortals  live happily  in this human infested planet !

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The most important medical research article published for over 100 years !

If you are a doctor  and  whatever  be your specialty   . . .  if you do  not read this article  and understand the nuances  probably you  will not become a   complete medical professional !

 

While  BMJ  struggles to  propagate  a vital truth , this  banner on a  Indian  high way   tempted the public  to go for 64 slice CT scan   . . .just like that !

Final message

Accruing medical knowledge and skills is only one aspect of medical profession. Applying it properly in our patient population is entirely  different ball game . Let us be disease curers and not disease hunters . This is important because disease  hunting is  a dangerous  game ,  where victims can be innocent  bystanders. This  is exactly same thing  Hippocrates  refered to as  Primum non nocere  1000 years ago.  It  has required  a huge statistical study to RE-INVENT  this universal fact !

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Come . . . join us . . . An open Invitation to scientific fraud !

I was stunned to read this article regarding the proliferation of open access , author paid scientific literature   from “The Hindu ” dated 27th  September 2012 .

It only shows how the scientific world is being consumed by  commercial interests .

It seems at every level of journal creating and publishing  there is vested interest .

I wonder   peer reviewed journals  could mean nothing in the near feature .

Let us   join the new movement  called  “Paid science”

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A new sub-speciality in cardiology : Masters in “Cardio-Vascular Business”

Medical science and commerce grow hand in hand .  Many believe   the field  of   medicine has  ceased to be a pure  science long ago . Both are mutually inclusive . We have on other option .

If there is no commercial interest   . . .Who will fund cardiology research ?  Then  . . . How are you going to  develop a biological pacemaker or  the  eagerly  awaited  total artificial heart ?

Without involvement of the commercial forces ,  no break through is possible . If you take medical science  , majority of growth has occurred by the motivational force of  medical industry  . Here is an  exclusive website for sub specialty called cardiopulmonary business .

But do we  have  the  medical research in safe hands ?

Why  a  hastily  developed  cardiac  device enter  the human domain and recalled within 2 years  fearing grave Injury   ?

Why a drug known to cause serious side effect was purposefully  blinded with a hidden agenda  till the drug earns a  billion or two ?

What is in store for future generations  ?

When the profession is at the mercy of  forces other than  patient care as a primary aim  there is every reason for it  go awry and  become   a dangerous health hazard  . If any medical professional   who does not see this , as an important issue  for man kind ,  requires a rebooting for reality  !

Public should realise , what they often get  in the name of science  is  a huge  human body trial and victims of   biological  shopping  . It has   wide-ranging  Implication . It is ironical , we are in a piquant  situation , where   our bio-system   has to  fight not only against  the  diseases but also  the misplaced scientific methodology  and fraudulent practices.

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Mindless Adventure of “Modern” Human Intellect !

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Modern medical quotes: Why evidence based medicine is sufferring ?

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When “Quality of life” fights with “Quantity of life” doctors get confused !

A  72 year old man in  terminal heart failure with  three previous admissions in  last one year  comes with severe breathlessness . He was  exhausted with  rigorous  drug regimens  for refractory heart failure in the past few months. Since he  was always feeling better after an infusion of Dobutamine he demanded it . Doctors were very clear  , ” Repeated  Dobutamine infusion will  hasten  the LV dysfunction and longevity is  will shorten”

The family began to think . While they  wished  for him to   live longer , the sick man  insisted  on  early  relief from his  symptoms .

How often in medicine ,   there is a trade off  between  symptoms and survival ?

It is a more common situation than we believe , especially in many  chronic  disorders like terminal organ failure and malignancies. .  So we need a simple scale to  asses the quality of life and survival  outcome for our patient. The following table  could help us . I  learnt this from   the great teacher Valentine Fuster’s  lecture  which  I attended in New Delhi recently !

Final message

Let us  attempt to  make a patient’s  life ” feel  good “ ,  if  he is going to live shorter .  Let us avoid  prolonging  a  life ,  if the treatment is making him feel  bad  , when the  life  expected  is  short !

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Mysteries in Medical Philosophy !

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When Robots help doctors during a surgery it charges 100,000 $ more !

An  article , I stumbled upon recently  discusses why American health care is  in deep trouble. There is a huge variation in the health care costs across the country. The article goes on to reveal  ,   a  simple  Appendicectomy can  cost  anywhere between 7500   to 1,70000 $  in different hospitals in USA.  (In India it costs  1000 $  in  any  star hospital !)

The fundamental flaw is   treatment  being the same ,   it is delivered in such a  fashion ,  the cost incurred is  kept ridiculously high.

It is akin to comparing  a 10 dollar  lunch to a 1000 dollar feast , both  ultimately  fulfills a  purpose ,   relive the hunger effectively

while , the later can  damage the country’s economy  in a variety of ways !

https://www.massdevice.com/blogs/massdevice/anatomy-walletectomy

Car makers automate the industry with Robots to   reduce  the  human labor and  cost of a vehicle ,  while medical industry does the opposite   . . .  privileged few get their appendix removed with a help of metal hand  !

Final message

Modern medicine must  aim to improve the quality  of  care  with a   positive impact  at a reasonable cost . In the name of cutting edge technologies ,  it  should not raise  the medical bill in a meaningless  fashion .This is meager exploitation of  human suffering.

It is  hilarious to note  certain medical  Robots* are primarily  made to assist  surgeon  for which  no assistance is required at all !  (I heard a story about a  Robot  which responds  to voice command   and pass on a   knife  for cutting and a gauze for wiping ! What a great medical discovery !)

Disclaimer

*  Of course  Robots (Cyber knifes )   may have a role  in some rare surgeries which require high precision  cutting  especially in  Neuro  ,  Vascular ,  oncological  surgeries.

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