25) Fleecing Hospitals

My sister and I present a study in contrast. While I struggled to graduate, she made it to Maulana Azad Medical College in Delhi. While the family was based in Hyderabad, she was not daunted of living alone in the capital. Besides studies and medical interests, she’s an expert violin player. It gets a bit embarrassing when a gifted younger sister is going places while I can do no better than a clerical government job in the statistics department. Everyone from neighbours to relations would comment on the contrast, to my chagrin of course. But this didn’t come in the way of being protective towards her.

Ours is a close knit family and the childhood memories have still not dimmed; I would pick her up after music tuitions as we strolled back home. Dad was particular that women should not be left unaccompanied after dark. Those were the innocent 80s when the society had a modicum of propriety.

Anuradha graduated in 1996 from MAMC and served Safdarjung Hospital for residency. After her MD degree, she joined us at Hyderabad after almost a decade of being on her own. She had no difficulty in joining a leading 5 star private hospital on the strength of her degrees and references. As for us, Anu had not changed a bit except that the years had made her more independent and confident.

The first few months she was just excited being at home and at the frenetic pace of her work. It didn’t take long for her to be disillusioned with the preventive medicine practiced at the hospital. She was outraged when she came to know that patients on a complaint of a headache were served a Rs.22,000 bill after being made to undergo ECG, Echo, and MRI and brain scans needlessly.

Initially, she turned a blind eye to what was happening in other departments but when she was asked to recommend at least 25 patients a month for echo cardiogram, she was livid. The general advisory for doctors was that patients who appeared wealthy must be made to undergo as many tests as possible as to cover the costs of medical equipments.

We live in an environment of medical oversell as hoardings scream of executive health check up or master plan as they call it. Even women are lulled into it and aggressively marketed on “women’s day” with their “huge discounts offer”.

Anu was firm and wouldn’t sell her ethics just to keep the marketing and accounts boys happy. She quit the 5 star hospital and is now on private practice. She formed an association of Noble Doctors Association that vows to treat patients as honestly as possible and no tests are demanded of the patients unless it is absolutely vital for diagnosis.

I am so proud of my sister. It is quite typical of her to stand up for her ethics and not bother as to which way the wind blows or how it will affect her career. She keeps saying,” Brother, I have just one life and I will not compromise no matter the costs”.

In an impressionable world, it’s so important to know one’s rights from wrongs. My kid sister taught us that lesson and god, aren’t we proud?