A doctor writes about an unfortunate incident which is not only depressing but really alarming. It is sad that such incidents have become quite common in Bengal, if not the entire country. In my brief medical career so far, I have seen that in every such incident of harassment of medical staff, there has been little or no legal action against the perpetrators of the crime and blatant distortion of facts by the local media. The following note is yet another example that will further discourage bright students to embrace the noble profession.
I want to share something very unfortunate happening to my family the day before yesterday. By profession my husband is an anaesthesiologist posted in midnapore medical college. But due to acute crisis of anaesthesiologist in other places he was posted in kharagpur sub divisional hospital on detailment temporarily. On 6th of may a young unmarried, handicapped girl had been admitted in Kharagpur hospital with 99% burn. Doctors tried to refer the case as there was no burn unit but the party refuse to take her. Within 10 to 12 hours the girl died. The authority asked my husband to do the post mortem. Being an anaesthesiologist for the past few months he is doing the postmortem of many cases and referring many serious cases to midnapore medical college for expert opinion. For this particular case first he has asked for the dying declaration , which was unavailable. After that he went through the inquest report and had a lot of doubt regarding the case . That is why he refer this case to MMC. After this incidence when he was out for his lunch he was mobbed by some local yuva congress people. He took shelter in a local nursing home where some local known doctors help him to take shelter. at this time when he called up the super, he said it is beyond his jurisdiction. a group of 25-30 people have pulled him out of that place and beaten him badly and taken him to the local police station. The police have taken a prompt action by arresting them for assaulting an on duty medical officer.
The unfortunate day was not yet over. Media have represented this case as “doctor beaten on negligence”.
My family and friends who really cares about me, i want to ask u a few questions through FB.
Can an anaesthesiologist be beaten and assaulted for not doing post mortem?
Can it be called negligence when he assessed and refer the case for expert opinion?
Can it be called a case of negligence when the girl is already dead? Where was these guys when the girl was alive and being referred to mmc for better treatment as there was no such unit in kharagpur?
Does the authority have any role to play to save their staff when they are in danger. (My husband is the junior most staff. Only 2.5 yrs of experience)
Does audiovisual media have got any commitment to the society to show and tell the true story?
Does print media have any role to play to write the genuine things? (It has been written that my husband was not beaten, but in the video taken by those guys only it has been clearly shown the fact. In ABP link every common people can see this).
He is disturbed, traumatized and mentally fatigued. We need genuine support and advice at this moment.
It was well before dawn. The watch tower at Tiger Hill had only started filling up with a handful of tourists when we arrived there, and the three of us managed to find seats in the second row. Our excitement in anticipation of the year’s first sunrise had dampened a bit by then as we found the arrangement in the watch tower to be shabby at best. We almost mistook it to be a relic from the British era for its inadequate size and threadbare state, but that is not the case I am told.
At a height of 8482 feet, it was a lot colder than Darjeeling and we were glad to have donned heavy woolens, complete with monkey caps and gloves. The seating area of the watch tower was painted a pallid yellow and lit by an equally monotonous yellow light. The small area was soon choc-a-bloc with people and as we feared, a man, with a foolish grin plastered on his face, flouted all civil manners and conveniently placed himself right at the front before one of the glass panes, blocking the view of the others. When another tourist bickered with him, the man showed no signs of budging from his spot, instead just widened his grin.
The collective murmur of the crowd rose, as the first red hue of daylight touched the eastern sky ever so lightly, announcing the breaking dawn. People jostled, pushed and shoved their way to the front for a better view. It was only 5.40 AM and still dark everywhere, save for the eastern horizon. Speculation about the possible timing of sunrise was on, while we shared a good laugh for Google clearly pegged the time at 6.25 AM. We sat back patiently and watched the circus. Let’s not be cynics here, but it was quite a sight as everyone shouted and fought for space to get a footing in front of the windows, armed with cameras, eager to get the perfect Facebook cover photo. While we were more amused than irritated, a few serious photographers sat with glum faces, SLR cameras perched on their laps, clearly miffed by all the frivolity around us. Men and women of all ages manoeuvred their way past us, nearly dislodging us from our chairs. In all the noise and scuffle, we did not even realize when Rajarshi’s muffler went missing.
Finally the sun’s upper edge showed up above the horizon, painting the mighty Kanchenjhunga a brilliant shade of crimson. A huge cheer arose. We rose from our seats and took turns peeking out of the window to catch a glimpse of the rising sun. Luckily the crowd had thinned out and moved to the far side of the hall that probably offered a better view, and we had a clear view for us. The rapid change of colours across the snow capped peaks of Kanchenjungha – from a touch of red to a golden yellow – was a treat for the eyes. There was daylight everywhere and we breathed in the fresh and crisp morning air.
While drinking in the not so refreshing coffee sold there, Rajarshi discovered his muffler was not with him. I quickly went into Byomkesh mode and – voilà! – there it was, hanging precariously from a lady’s handbag, without her knowledge! More surprise was in store for Rajarshi. Who would have known that the idea of the local teenagers to celebrate the new year was to plant a chocolate bomb at his feet! Kaboom! What a way to start the new year.
So the year started on a high note for us. Yet we were not too pleased with how the crowd behaved. We met a friend, one who has been to many treks, the following evening at Siliguri; he told us it is a total waste of time: going through all the trouble of getting up in the middle of the night, travelling in the biting cold and then enduring two hours of indiscipline and craziness is not worth it. Looking back, I am glad I went through all the trouble and got to witness the first sunrise of the year.
Today morning I had breakfast with a friend at Mrs. Magpie. We were truly mesmerized by the sheer beauty of the place and its assortment of delectable bite-sized cupcakes. I ordered a Darjeeling tea for myself while she had the coffee. Republic Day Breakfast at Mrs Magpie
“Don’t voluntarily deny yourself the restorative power of sleep. A good nap is the order of the day – and for the nights, sleep as long as possible. Remember that sleep is our natural state, in which we were first created, and we only wake to feed our dreams.” – Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine
As a Bond fan, I could not miss it. And it was a very good watch. The first half was a tad slow, but the second half was rivetting. I liked how the movie ended. Looks like old school Bond flavor is back 😀 Call me an old timer, but I can’t help comparing new Bond movies with the older ones, those of Sean Connery and Roger Moore era! For example, the villain’s maxillary prosthesis was truly in bond style. Very reminiscent of some old school bond villains who had disfigured faces and had to go for plastic surgery 😛 The humor element was missing though; we hardly laughed. May be because Bond has suddenly grown old, as pointed out by a friend who also thinks that the movie was part Bond and part Home Alone. Haha! You will get the pun when you watch the movie. And oh yes, there’s surprise in who is the Bond girl (though in a platonic way) in this movie!
The functional, half-functional and now-defunct gadgets accumulated over the years has given rise to a tangle of wires that is getting impossible to control. It’s as if the overwhelming wire mess has got a life of its own and its entire dust-hogging, cobweb-gathering being is only aimed at making life difficult for me. Plugging in the external hard drive or feeling up the scanner usb cable to see if it is plugged is well nigh impossible. Even pulling the mouse is a tug of war these days! The printer is not working anymore and I need to print some admit cards. I have set my eyes on wireless printers, no prizes for guessing! Suggestions on wifi printers are hereby sought from one and all.
Conventional healthcare system has taken a bikini approach to women’s health giving emphasis on the breast and the reproductive system. A greater awareness among women regarding heart disease is the need of the hour. Heart disease is not only the leading cause of death in US women but more women are dying of heart disease every year than men1! In fact, research regarding heart disease has mostly considered it as a male disease, with poor participation rates of women. It is important to understand that heart disease in women is not a man’s disease; heart disease in women acts quite different than in men2. Only recently heart disease in women is being looked at seriously and gender-specific research is being carried out.
1 Lloyd-Jones D, Adams R, Brown T,. et al. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2010 Update: A Report from the American Heart Assocaition Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcomittee. Circulation. 2010; 121:e155.
2 Johnson SM, Karvonen CA, Phelps CL, Set al. Assessment of Analysis by Gender in the Cochrane Reviews as Related to Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease. J Women’s Health. June 1, 2003, 12(5):449-457.
The reason why many couples seem to conceive while they are on holiday in a beach may have been explained by scientists: sunlight might be good for a man’s sperm.
New research has indicated that Vitamin D – which is produced by the human body when it is exposed to sun – is critical to the production of sperm, and that a lack of the nutrient may be linked to male infertility.
The findings, from a team at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, suggest that boosting Vitamin D production, either by increasing exposure to sunlight or by taking dietary supplements, might improve fertility among men.
