TRIBUTE TO DOCTORS

Doctor, you are one of the lucky people, who when asked:

“What do you do for a living?”, can answer:

“I SAVE LIVES! ! !”

What have my guts to do anything with tributes to doctors, you may wonder. But, I am indeed talking about my 'GUTS'! The pun is deliberate and intentional one. It all began in this manner.

Some years back, in 2011 to be exact, we were in Saudi Arabia. It was our first visit to Saudi Arabia then. Just as there was so much to write home about from Saudi, there is so much I could write from home, especially some of the funny experiences that I had over there. There was this ‘Eating Competition for Men’ during the Food Festival at Lu- Lu’s. Lu-Lu’s is super market down there. How each of us was supposed to eat as many as we could (in 5 minutes or so) any of the 4 items – chillies (3 marks), bitter gourd (2 marks) and cucumber & carrot (1 mark each). I could touch a score line of 37, by eating in the allotted time 1 carrot and 12 chillies. But I stood nowhere! No, not even a consolation prize for me, despite my being the senior most participant! A Hyderabadi, some thirty years, a giant of a man, who stood first, had eaten 48 chillies. He had walked in with a reputation of winning all the previous competitions held at Lu-Lu’s. In the last one before this he had stood first when he had devoured three huge creamy cakes each weighing some 3 kgs. It was cake walk for him even now, imagine eating all of those 48 red hot chillies! But poor, me, with a score of 12 of them, stood at the bottom! It had hurt me a lot, in more ways than one. ‘The Rest is ‘History’ as people often say. But it was no longer ‘History’ for me. Many had applauded me then saying, “We admire your guts”. But my poor guts – they did not admire me. Now my guts were screaming, “Keep the spices off your dinner table”. And so it had been for quite a while! Remedial suggestions kept on pouring from different quarters each day with all those ‘dos and don’ts’, go to this or that doctor and some even advised me to go to some ‘vaidu’ or other.

There is but a thin line between medical cures and the so called magic remedies. You come across many who know someone who has either heard of or experienced a magical remedy. In the situation of a condition that is particularly difficult to treat, relatives, friends or neighbours always have well meaning advice to offer -- much of it based on stories or experiences related by others. Strangely, none of these people tend to be a doctor, and doctors who hear such stories find it interesting, if not amusing. Some suggested I should take ‘gulkand’, jam of some fruit (bel fal) or honey in lemon juice. Some of the remedies suggested would have proved dangerous had I taken them seriously. They stopped short of telling to have my guts removed.

Thank God no one told me to go to that self proclaimed scientist who sold a liquid medicine -- Rs. 15,000 for a 100 ml bottle that was advertised as a cure for everything from diabetes, incurable HIV to cancer. We all know how some actors and well-known personalities appeared in TV shows promoting his ‘miracle medicine’. I would have also been one of the witnesses to testify against him and would have taken credit for enabling the authorities in putting him behind the bars.

The first thing after returning from Saudi was to find Dr. Chetan Bhat. I knew that he used to practise at Dr. Nene’s Clinic in the building next to Laud Mention, Charni Road. However, when in that building the liftman informed me that there wasn’t any ‘Dr. Chetan Bhat’ in the whole building. But I was lucky. A sweeper, an old lady, who had heard me said, “कोण? तो आपला चेतन? तो ब्रिज वरला बॉम्बे मुचल बिल्डींगात काम करतो बघा. दोन माळ्यावर." ( She was telling me about the doctor as though he was her son or a very close relative.)

The Colonoscopy done by Dr. Chetan Bhatt on me revealed – Anal canal with internal Haemorrhoids with congested mucosa (Piles, in short). He treated me and prescribed some medicines. I took the religiously. Thank you so much, Dr. Chetan Bhatt and thank God, I came to you and did not go to any quack, otherwise who knows?

Credibility in today’s day and age where people assume that everything and everyone is up for sale is a highly valued asset. People are very cynical and think that every write up or news item is ‘paid’. They often ask writer or the journalist concerned how much he or she been paid for writing the stuff.

I fully trust my doctor and for that matter I have all the faith in all my doctors and the Medical Profession. Just the way my mother did. When I wrote about this on Face Book, one friend's son wrote:

FROM MY FRIEND'S SON:

Uncle, I am hesitant to put it out on the internet as it is somewhat personal information regarding the illness etc. I am pasting below another version of my comment with names removed. Please feel free to include it in your post without naming us. I hope this ok - usually I would be ok to post comments with my name, but this particular topic is a bit sensitive

Here is the same comment but anonymous:

Uncle, I really like reading your blog, please keep writing. you mentioned that you are consulting Dr Chetan Bhatt for gastroenterology. I wanted to share our experience with you.

About 7 years back my wife, was diagnosed with serious abdominal infection which even the doctors here in London ruled out as a chronic condition that she would never get rid of. On a trusted recommendation, we then went to Dr Bhatt - not only did he cure her of the condition but proved that she had been misdiagnosed (they accepted their fault after looking at the evidence and her recovery).

He is a life saver for us. We have a lot of respect for him. With him you are definitely in good hands ! Please take care and get well soon.

But sometimes, we do read such reports:

Homoeopathetic: (Mumbai Mirror May,28, 2013)

· Man found with baby bottle in anus, says it was piles treatment.

· Doctors remove it; it had worked its way into his large intestine.

· The patient had bottled it.

· The patient claims homoeopath had told him to lube it up and put it there to treat the disease.

It is my advice - go to a good doctor and trust him fully. This is so despite of reading some startling revelations made, like the one forwarded by Neville Mistry, one of my friends: captioned ‘Heart Surgeon Admits Huge Mistake By Dwight Lundell, M.D.’ (Neville, it was interesting as well as enlightening. Thank you.). But sometimes patients too are wrong about their doctors.

Some months back a one of my acquaintances, Dr. Anita, called me to tell me that how she was surprised when Dr. Prafulla B. Desai (a Padma Bhushan recipient and her dad’s student) remembered my mother. I told her that my mom was the first cancer patient that he operated upon and I went on to tell how her dad, Dr. Ernest Borges, considered my mom as his sister and hence declined to operate on her then and asked his student, Dr.P.B.Desai to perform the surgery instead. All went well for my mother. She was indebted to both of them and of course to the Almighty. She would quite often express these feelings of her having full faith in both of them and she was so very grateful to them for enabling her to lead and live normal life. Incidentally, prior to my mother’s death, Tata Memorial Hospital records showed my mother as ‘the longest surviving cancer patient’ with her photograph below it and which would often be circulated among the resident cancer patients as a morale booster. In fact, Dr. Borges would tell me, “This lady deserves A Nobel, if there was one for fighting so bravely against such a dreadful disease. I admire her will power and desire to live.” Incidentally, Dr. Borges passed away much before my mother did.

You may be wondering as to why I am writing all this. This is the same renowned cancer surgeon -Dr.P.B.Desai, who was very much in the news some months back and all for the wrong reasons. They found him guilty of negligence and it is said that his rash and negligent act had resulted in death of one Ms.Leela, wife of some retired IAS officer, one Mr.P.C.Singhi, back in 1988, the same year my mother died. My mother would have been shocked and angry at anyone calling him rash and negligent, -shocked and angry - just the way today many from medical community are. She would not have believed - Dr. P.B..Desai, rash and negligent- no way! The doctor, who had performed his first surgery on her and subsequently treated her for so many years free of charge, could never be negligent. He was always there for her whenever needed him.

Dr. E.Greenberg, who testified from the US, (on whose testimony via video conference the court has relied upon) is a physician and what authority does a physician have in saying that a surgery was inadvisable, so ask many from the medical profession. Again opinions defer. Moreover, it seems that Ms. Leela was never a patient of Dr. P.B.Desai but that of Dr. A.K.Mukherji (his assistant), as testified under oath by two witnesses, an anesthetist and a secretary. Ironically, Dr.Mukherji has been acquitted of all criminal charges, when she was his patient for 10 years, even when he worked under Dr.Paymaster.

My rhetoric may not help Dr.P.B.Desai in any way, but it’s my expressing my gratitude to him on behalf of my mother. May her soul rest in peace!

Recently, I met Dr. P.B.Desai. After reading the very first sentence he remarked," Vinay, I don't agree with you. I don't save lives. No doctor does. We treat patients. Life and death is not man's hand.

This reminds of what one of my acquaintances, who is a doctor, once wrote in his column:
It is also so easy for doctors to fall prey to the God complex, especially when patients say things like “aap to Bhagwan ho. Aapko jo karna hai karo”.(आप तो भगवन हो. आपको जो करना है जो करो.)

He has also written some other time that a good family physician is an invaluable companion in both simple and complicated medical situations…and as a bonus can also double up as a friend, philosopher and guide! Cultivate one! Thankfully, we have a lot of doctors in our family (extended one), but no family physician at that. At the same time, we are fortunate to know many doctors, who are skilled and specialized in their respective field of expertise.

There is Dr. Gauresh Palekar. We go to him for our orthopedic and related problems. Once when my wife was having joint pains I took her to him. After examining her he told us that it had nothing to do with his line of expertise and predicted that it could be maleria or dengu. He asked us to get it confirmed from a physician. His diagnosis were correct. Again on another occasion, I had twisted (so I thought) my right ankle. One look at my swollen foot and he asked me, " I you sure you that you have twisted your ankle or you think so? I am afraid you have gout." He treated and I became well. After some days he called me. I told him that my foot was okay, there was no pain or any swelling. But he insisted to visit his clinic. I went. I stretched my food so that he could examine it. He said, " I don't want examine your foot. I am sure it has become well as you say. It is for some other reason that I have called you,"so saying he handed me a donation cheque in favour of our NGO. He is now our regular donor for the past three years or so.

Writing about this donation to our NGO, reminds of another incidence. One of our beneficiaries, a kid of ten years or so, was having trouble with his eye sight. I called my Eye Surgeon, Dr, Chandresh Parekh and told him about. He asked," What you want me to do?" I said," Doctor, examine him for free." And he not only gave him free examination but also treated him free of any charges. His left eye was completely damaged and the right one needed some laser treatment. Some eight to ten sittings.

There is a long list of doctors to whom I am grateful. BIG,BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!

Vinay Trilokekar

This the response that I have received:

From: Dr.Eric Borges
To: vinay trilokekar
Sent: Friday, 7 September 2012 6:59 AM
Subject: Re: My new venture Eric Borges

Hi Vinay,
Great Blog!!!
Wonderful thoughts and so nicely put.
Best regards
Eric

FROM: Nikhil Dhurandhar

Friday, 7 September 2012 8:46 PM

Dear Mama,

Nice to read - honest, direct and heart warming. Keep up the good work. Love reading it.

Seems like writing is in our blood. May be I should also take a stab at it

Fwd: My uncles blog

FROM: Nikhil Dhurandhar

Saturday, 8 September 2012 12:36 AM

Comment from my friend.

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Abhay Tawde <abhay_tawde@hotmail.com

Date: September 7, 2012 2:10:25 PM EDT
To: Nikhil Dhurandhar <nikhil.dhurandhar@gmail.com
Subject: Re: My uncles blog

Good reading. His writing is really crisp and thought provoking.

From : Kiran Kothare

Dear Vinay

After glancing through your mail and the blog, I thought that I will go through it at leisure.

Hence it took me long to respond to you.

You have been able to pen your experiences in life and comments there on in a very simple but interesting manner. I never knew that you are such an articulate writer.

It was certainly a pleasurable reading experience.

Some of thought provoking articles can be offered to our community magazine's ( Prabhu Prabhat and Prabhu Tarun) forthcoming Diwali issues.

You can request their editors to get reactions of their readers on your mail id.

I am sure that it will generate lot of positive ( for) and negative ( countering / opposing) opinions.

Through such debate only the social change gets initiated and gets accepted over the next generations.

Do keep it up.

Wish you all the best in this venture.

Thanks & regards

Kiran Kothare
mobile 9819816150

Mumbai Mirror: October 22, 2012

Doctors back surgeon, fear giving advice

MUMBAI: Leading surgeons in the city are upset over the recent Bombay high court judgment upholding the conviction against cancer surgeon Dr P B Desai for negligence.

The case was of a cancer patient Leela Singhi, wife of then IAS officer from Rajasthan, P C Singhi. She was admitted to Bombay Hospital in December 1987 as a patient of Dr Desai by his junior Dr A K Mukherjee. She, on Dr Desai's advice, was set up for a surgical procedure to remove her uterus but when Dr Mukherjee found it was not possible on opening the abdomen, he closed it on Desai's advice from an adjoining OT where he was operating on another patient. For three months Leela remained in the hospital suffering in pain. She died 14 months later in Rajasthan

Senior doctors say they now fear giving a second opinion to a patient of another doctor or when a patient is sent to them for referral. "There are two kinds of emotions that are running high," said Dr Tehemton Udwadia, who is regarded as the father of laproscopic surgery in India and is associated with Hinduja and Breach Candy hospitals. "One is agitation and the other is anger." "This is a disastrous judgment for the medical fraternity. It revolves around a technicality. I would think ten times before giving advice on someone else's patient now."

Senior doctors' opinion are routinely sought by other doctors even from other cities said Dr Farookh Udwadia, one of the seniormost physicians in Mumbai. "I would be hesitant to give opinions now. Opinions can change depending on a patient's condition which when the case is terminal can keep changing."

Dr Tehmton said, "It was a unique and prehistoric practice of admitting patients only under the senior doctor's name that has affected Dr Desai." Dr D P Vyas, medical director of Bombay Hospital, backed the claim. He had told the court about the hospital's procedure of allowing an assistant attached to a senior doctor to have his own independent patient but to not give him or her rights to admit such patient under their names." "It was to groom the junior doctors," he said.

Dr Lalit Kapoor, founder-member of Association of Medical Consultants and urologist, said, "Just because an opinion turns out wrong, can you hang me later? That too in this case the patient died over a year later. It must be explained that medicine is not an exact science. In India we criminalize medical negligence without a rigorous check."

TOI October 22, 2014- MUMBAI: In a win for onco-surgeon Dr P B Desai, the Bombay high court set aside a 2011 order directing him to pay a compensation of Rs 15 lakh for causing mental agony to a cancer patient, Leela Singhi, in 1987.

A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice A S Chandurkar allowed Dr Desai's appeal that Singhi was not admitted as his patient; so, he was not responsible for any suffering caused to her after a December 1987 surgery performed by another doctor at Bombay Hospital.

The Singhis sued Dr Desai in the HC in 1989 for damages for breach of contract and negligence. In 2011, an HC single-judge bench of Justice Roshan Dalvi held Dr Desai contractually liable to Singhi in a doctor-patient relationship; Singhi was admitted to Bombay Hospital where he headed the oncology department. Justice Dalvi also ordered him to foot her medical and nursing bills of Rs 80,000—with 16% interest per annum—and Rs 1 lakh as litigation cost. After a year of suffering, Leela died at her Rajasthan hometown where her husband P C Singhi was a senior bureaucrat.

But Justice Dalvi held that Dr Desai was not medically negligent, which was not challenged by Singhi; his appeal was against her judgment.

Allowing his appeal in a criminal case last year, the SC also held Dr Desai was not criminally liable for medical negligence but said a doctor-patient relationship between him and Leela stood established, contractually.

In the HC, the appeal bench pointed out that barring in places where his opinion was sought, Dr Desai's name did not appear on Leela's hospital papers. The HC said the patient was attended to by Dr A K Mukherjee, an assistant doctor. "We have held that the deceased was never admitted as the patient of the appellant," the HC said, adding he was "merely called to examine her and advise".

On Dr Mukherjee's suggestion, Dr Desai's opinion was sought and he advised "exploratory surgery" on Singhi slated for December 22, 1987. Dr Desai performed another surgery in a nearby OT that day and had agreed to help if needed. "There is no evidence to show the appellant had agreed to perform the surgery. But he agreed he would help out if needed... He and the deceased had a doctor-patient relationship to this extent."

Pointing out that the single judge "is not right" to hold Dr Desai liable to the contract, the HC now said, "The only fault that can be attributed to Dr Desai is that when Dr Mukherjee told him about his observations on opening the patient's abdomen, Dr Desai asked him to close it, while he was in the corridor outside the OT, without entering the room to verify..."

Damages cannot be granted, said the HC bench. Besides, it is not even retired IAS officer Singhi's case that the surgery caused the death. He pursued the legal battle for what the "justice for Leela" against a top surgeon who he claimed sought to pass on his responsibility to his junior. He said he will move the SC.

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