Inhospitable hospital

Doctors ... hospitals ... these words evoke many reactions. Some thinks of them as tools for betterment and a healthy life. For some, they represent illness, sadness ... basically depression. I have a positive outlook towards doctors and hospitals. I regard doctors as the noblest professionals ... and hospitals as holy as a temple/mosque/church. But slowly and slowly I have started to feel little repulsed and perturbed by doctors and hospitals.

A year back, I watched a Michael Moore documentary – Sicko. The documentary was on American health care system. There was on particular scene which left an indelible impression on my mind. In that scene, a guy who accidentally cut off two fingers tells his heart breaking story of how he was asked to choose between reattaching the $12,000 ring finger or the $60,000 middle finger. He was not insured ... so he goes with the ring finger because that was within his budget (and may be he was romantic at heart too). Can you imagine such horror ... if that choice is to be made by you? The hospital could have attached both the fingers ... but they didn’t because he could not pay for it. There was another scene where a doctor (works for an insurance company) confesses that he denied a man an operation and thus caused his death. Stinks isn’t it ... reeks of money and profit.

A similar case of money spinning scam happened to my uncle. He had a fever which was not going away. He consulted his brother (a doctor) and he advised him to get it checked up at a good hospital. He pulled some strings and got my uncle admitted in Apollo (one of the most prestigious hospitals in India). After a barrage of medical tests and checkups, the doctors diagnosed that his chest is filled with water and they would have to pump it out. They operated (sorta) for 3 hours ... used syringes to pump out the water. To my uncle’s bemusement, the doctors at Apollo told him that they misdiagnosed him and there is no water deposit. OK ... so far so good ... but then my uncle asked what really the problem is. They told him that he has TB (tuberculosis). Another round of tests ... and it turned out that he is not suffering from TB either. Another misdiagnosis ... goddamn!!!

My uncle is well off and he went thru every procedure that the doctors suggested. However, the tests and medication were not cheap. Even after spending all this money and going thru mental anguish, the doctors at Apollo are still clueless about his condition. He is now getting treated at some other hospital. But come to think of it ... can you imagine such incompetent doctors at the premium hospital? They were shooting in the dark ... and the hospital was minting money out of my uncle’s misery. Makes me wanna puke.

These days people are scared of falling ill ... not because they are afraid of being unhealthy or whatever ... but more because they would have to visit the hospital. People these days see the hospital as a place to extort money. They pray for their health so that they don’t have to deal with the doctors and go thru all the random tests. The commercialization on health care is absolutely mind numbing and I warn each and every one of you ... check your hospitals before you check in. Even if it’s an Apollo.

Special Mention: Ankur's Apollo Experiance