In their book Dissenting Diagnosis, doctors and activists Abhay Shukla and Arun Gadre give us a chilling inside account of widespread malpractices afflicting the healthcare industry. The nexus between corporate hospitals, pharma companies and doctors has increased the risks and costs of healthcare to such an extent that millions of middle -class Indians descend into poverty when they fall sick. “A country which boasts of being a global superpower, of sending a rocket to Mars, and of being among the largest producers of both doctors and medicines in the world, should be able to ensure good quality, rational health care for everyone in the country,” they say.
Both doctors have decades of experience in the profession and started working actively with the health NGO Sathi to create awareness and advocate for structural changes to regulate this critical sector. They talk to the Huffington Post:
The book draws a chilling picture of how health services in India have reached a stage where the patient’s welfare comes second to commercial considerations. How serious and widespread is this problem?
The problem of gross commercialization leading to distortions in medical practice is very widespread and threatening. As Dr George Mathai, physician from Alibag, Maharashtra states, “Doctors’ associations counter the allegation of commercialization by saying that there are always a few black sheep in any profession. But I tell you, nowadays one has to search for a white sheep under [the] microscope.”