SECOND OPINION: A surgeon’s view of healthcare and policy in India
The winner takes it all
During the first month of Covid, when I wrote in this column that an acquaintance had called to ask whether he could ‘prebook’ an ICU bed, I received incredulous responses. I don’t know whether the gentleman needed an ICU bed, but in a devious sort of way he was indeed far-sighted.
One step backward two steps forward
The results of a large multi-centre ICMR-led plasma trial were released yesterday. It shows no benefit in terms of reduction of mortality or progression from moderate to severe disease. What is helpful is to realise that this is exactly how science has progressed. Not only by successes but also recognising failures and moving on.
Hand in hand
In any transplant, serious surgical complications are a possibility and the immunosuppressive drugs that are needed have side-effects and can predispose to deadly infections. So, when the transplant is not for a life-threatening condition, the benefits need to outweigh the risks.
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
A village at Sea
The original inhabitants of Worli’s Koliwada have withstood changing weather, declining marine life, the ravages of development and even Covid. We all savour the traditional Koli dance where they are expressing their joy but increasingly hiding sorrows.
Missing the woods for the trees
In March this year, an IAS officer in Jharkhand gave birth to her baby at a government hospital. That this made front page news nationally and that too valorised, is not surprising. Because in India, it is an unusual act. Almost a brave one
‘Positives’ from the debris of Covid?
In an attempt to distill out the ‘positives’ from the debris of Covid, there are some big ideas that were executed seriously by the state for the first time, that need to be kept alive.
Coronavirus | An opportunity to reshape health care
The COVID-19 pandemic may have unwittingly led to some desirable changes; the challenge is to build on this