Doctors should mind their manners
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Ameer Hamza
A senior citizen recently was so piqued by the conduct of a well-known cardiologist at a popular 'diagnostic centre' at Uttara that she refused to add the four more drugs that he had prescribed to her daily regimen. She claimed his insensitive manner was 'good enough to make her feel fit again' ! The doctor refused to listen to what she had wanted to tell him, complained the 70-year old, and simply scribbled away, giving her tests that have already been done just a month ago, pocketed the Taka 500 fees gracelessly, without even a receipt, and ushered in another patient even before the old lady had been dismissed !! The same old story of callous commercialization over real health care. Are our doctors never going to learn and live by the Hippocratic principles ? The above conduct does fall in the category of gross negligence, doesn't it ?
A six-member committee was formed years ago to amend the BMDC (Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council) act, with the purpose of curbing professional misconduct like negligence and wrong treatment. But its recommendations, we are told, have been shelved. Ever since the BMDC was set up in 1973, thousands of doctors have been given licences and thousands of complaints have been received. But BMDC could hardly take any action, the main reason being, ' 99.99 per cent of complaints were not filed properly'.
According to the findings of Ain O Shalish Kendro, there have been over 76 deaths, due largely to doctors' negligence ( as reported in the press) within a ten-month period in 2007 alone. The BMDC must take these findings seriously and make amends so that faith in the country's medical profession is not destroyed beyond recovery. Errant professionals exist and thrive in every sector. But doctors specially must be strictly monitored and made to answer for any violation of medical ethics, misconduct and other offences just as the excellence in service deserves to be talked about.
Doctors in Bangladesh have been losing out to their foreign peers, working inside or abroad, on account of the former's poor marketing skills --- and,not to forget, manners. The Bangladesh Medical Association officials have often been heard claiming that the rush of patients seeking treatment abroad --- specifically in India, Singapore and Thailand --- is due more to 'bad publicity' of services available at home than anything else. To overcome this weakness, professional bodies are found to go for press interaction from time to time to raise awareness about the availablity of different medical techniques and procedures in Bangladesh.
While it is partly true that advertisement works, the medical profession should also keep in mind that what matters most is dependable and laudible services. Manners may make a difference when it comes to drawing patients and holding their faith. But by and large, the best of Bangladesh's doctors seem to fight shy of publicizing their expertise. Of course there are quite a few who couldn't care less about doctor-patient relations, and may be party faulted for driving patients away.
Critics say, the lack of accountability in cases of mis-diagnosis and mal-treatment is also a strong minus point, all of which can be addressed if the BMDC is made to get out of its unwieldy bureaucratic existence, and starts functioning properly. In this context one must also take into account the fact that many patients in Bangladesh are just as careless as erring physicians in not keeping track of the series of medications they are subjected to, in the search for relief or cure. In the process, the health of countless innocent patients may be compromised by many iatrogenic diseases, that is, illnesses acquired due to medications given to treat an original ailment. In the absence of proper record of the medications taken so far, it is no surprise that in such cases, the doctors consulted later find it difficult to diagnose and treat their patients properly. Naturally, they then end up earning bad publicity.
While on the subject, it may be mentioned that consumer activists in some countries are found to be extremely alert about both their public and private medical services. In India, for example, mainstream newspapers have been found running stories of terrible medical mishaps and crass commercialism rampant in the mushrooming diagnostic centres, clinics, hospitals and drug manufacturing units that have been left largely unregulated, and allowed to go unaccountable for long. India Today reported in its 25 Sept 2000 issue that some 30,000 negligence suits have been pending against various medical practitioners, clinics and hospitals. Needless to say, the good, the bad and the ugly are everywhere on God's earth. The Consumer Association of Bangladesh too should be on their toes to see that both the public and private health systems that deliver the goods and services are accountable and that the BMDC is made to take wrongdoers to task.
A senior citizen recently was so piqued by the conduct of a well-known cardiologist at a popular 'diagnostic centre' at Uttara that she refused to add the four more drugs that he had prescribed to her daily regimen. She claimed his insensitive manner was 'good enough to make her feel fit again' ! The doctor refused to listen to what she had wanted to tell him, complained the 70-year old, and simply scribbled away, giving her tests that have already been done just a month ago, pocketed the Taka 500 fees gracelessly, without even a receipt, and ushered in another patient even before the old lady had been dismissed !! The same old story of callous commercialization over real health care. Are our doctors never going to learn and live by the Hippocratic principles ? The above conduct does fall in the category of gross negligence, doesn't it ?
A six-member committee was formed years ago to amend the BMDC (Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council) act, with the purpose of curbing professional misconduct like negligence and wrong treatment. But its recommendations, we are told, have been shelved. Ever since the BMDC was set up in 1973, thousands of doctors have been given licences and thousands of complaints have been received. But BMDC could hardly take any action, the main reason being, ' 99.99 per cent of complaints were not filed properly'.
According to the findings of Ain O Shalish Kendro, there have been over 76 deaths, due largely to doctors' negligence ( as reported in the press) within a ten-month period in 2007 alone. The BMDC must take these findings seriously and make amends so that faith in the country's medical profession is not destroyed beyond recovery. Errant professionals exist and thrive in every sector. But doctors specially must be strictly monitored and made to answer for any violation of medical ethics, misconduct and other offences just as the excellence in service deserves to be talked about.
Doctors in Bangladesh have been losing out to their foreign peers, working inside or abroad, on account of the former's poor marketing skills --- and,not to forget, manners. The Bangladesh Medical Association officials have often been heard claiming that the rush of patients seeking treatment abroad --- specifically in India, Singapore and Thailand --- is due more to 'bad publicity' of services available at home than anything else. To overcome this weakness, professional bodies are found to go for press interaction from time to time to raise awareness about the availablity of different medical techniques and procedures in Bangladesh.
While it is partly true that advertisement works, the medical profession should also keep in mind that what matters most is dependable and laudible services. Manners may make a difference when it comes to drawing patients and holding their faith. But by and large, the best of Bangladesh's doctors seem to fight shy of publicizing their expertise. Of course there are quite a few who couldn't care less about doctor-patient relations, and may be party faulted for driving patients away.
Critics say, the lack of accountability in cases of mis-diagnosis and mal-treatment is also a strong minus point, all of which can be addressed if the BMDC is made to get out of its unwieldy bureaucratic existence, and starts functioning properly. In this context one must also take into account the fact that many patients in Bangladesh are just as careless as erring physicians in not keeping track of the series of medications they are subjected to, in the search for relief or cure. In the process, the health of countless innocent patients may be compromised by many iatrogenic diseases, that is, illnesses acquired due to medications given to treat an original ailment. In the absence of proper record of the medications taken so far, it is no surprise that in such cases, the doctors consulted later find it difficult to diagnose and treat their patients properly. Naturally, they then end up earning bad publicity.
While on the subject, it may be mentioned that consumer activists in some countries are found to be extremely alert about both their public and private medical services. In India, for example, mainstream newspapers have been found running stories of terrible medical mishaps and crass commercialism rampant in the mushrooming diagnostic centres, clinics, hospitals and drug manufacturing units that have been left largely unregulated, and allowed to go unaccountable for long. India Today reported in its 25 Sept 2000 issue that some 30,000 negligence suits have been pending against various medical practitioners, clinics and hospitals. Needless to say, the good, the bad and the ugly are everywhere on God's earth. The Consumer Association of Bangladesh too should be on their toes to see that both the public and private health systems that deliver the goods and services are accountable and that the BMDC is made to take wrongdoers to task.