SECOND OPINION: A surgeon’s ringside view of healthcare
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Anatomy of a murder
What followed Kerala doctor Vandana Das’s death is textbook default responses. There was immediate horror and indignation. Also much high-pitched discussion and lament about poor security in hospitals. Some of it is an understandable fallout of doctors feeling insecure
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Testing, testing, testing
The evidence suggests that all-encompassing blanket testing when you are healthy doesn’t help. Many countries don’t promote or offer them. No scientific organisation recommends them. What’s instead recommended is selective targeted testing
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Do doctors help increase revenue for hospitals ?
In this video, Dr. Sanjay Nagral speaks about how doctors help increase revenue for hospitals?
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Who gives? Who lives? Organ Transplantation in India : some ethical Quagmires
Dr. Sanjay Nagral, a GI surgeon by training and a thinker by choice, speaks about organ transplantation in India and the ethical quagmires is could lead to
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In Dubious Battle: Ramdev versus the Indian Medical Association
The Ramdev-IMA skirmish is more of a turf war based on perceived insults, than about upholding science or attacking obscurantism. It is a sideshow of a fake quarrel that has distracted us again from the crisis in healthcare that India faces.
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A Mann ki Baat on Covid-19
Dr Sanjay Nagral explains why he’s disturbed by some claims made by Dr Shashank Joshi on Prime Minister Modi’s latest radio show.
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What I would have liked to ask the Sexpert
I had not performed a circumcision for years. Anyway, the young man recovered well. I sent a note to Dr Watsa thanking him for the referral. Then something strange happened
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The doctor who doesn’t know
Given the complexity of medical knowledge and the fear of disease, the ‘all knowing doctor' approach is understandable. However, a cocksure doctor doling out instant advice with an air of finality may be more optics than substance. A doctor who knows that he doesn’t know and is willing to admit it, may be acting in your best interest
Why do I write?
A surgeons life is filled with drama but is also beset with contradictions. It is at once challenging and rewarding, especially through the gratitude of patients. After initial years of innocence, the mid-life of a surgical career can be monotonous and punctuated by moments of self-doubt and even futility. The response could be self-reflection, distraction, or immersing oneself in work. I chose writing.
Over a decade, I have penned my thoughts on healthcare in India through op-eds and columns in leading newspapers and journals. This is partly an attempt to offer insights from the vantage point of what I describe as a 'ringside' view into healthcare's workings, challenges and fault lines. An area all of us are compelled to engage with sooner or later in our lives. The angst that may come through in my pieces was heightened by spending a large part of my career leading a double life in the private and public health care sector.
Thus writing has also been a medium to vent my discomfort and even dissipate a sense of guilt at the inequity and pathos of this area. It is also a record of the amazing grit and resilience that one witnesses.
What initially was sporadic writing through opeds became a weekly column in a leading newspaper around the time of Covid. Besides creating time, Covid also evoked a heightened interest in healthcare from citizens. As a result, I now have a band of regular readers who follow my columns. I am often asked where all my written work could be found. This space is an effort to put them all together. I hope it resonates with you.
Acknowledgement
This site was created with help from: Karuna Krishna, Mukul Pandya and Carl Noronha.