What killed my son?

[amiret]

My Mom was having some discomfort/pain in her ear so she stopped at Max hospital in Saket' date=' Delhi. The specialist suggested that she immediately gets a minor surgery done which shall take 20-30mins. When my Mom said that she would want to call her family/husband then the doctor said [b']"if they cared about you, they'd be here now. You are getting the surgery now". Mom said that she will be back as she will send the driver home and got out. She didnt have ANYTHING wrong with her ear, she saw family doctor who said that the pain was from her traveling on a plane a month ago(probably) and as expected it went away. I am talking about Max hospital in New Delhi, I wonder what happens elsewhere.

Strange and terrible thing to say to a patient and yet almost every person i have encountered has had similar experiences in these multi-billion $$ pvt hospitals . Elderly NRI's who returned, lament that even though healthcare was relatively expensive in the west it was vastly better . My views are of course extremely biased due to personal experiences. From doctors LYING about treatment options , diagnosis , tests required ,risks associated to surgery to lying about the cause of Death .

[Mariyam]

Even if you can afford the the so-called best pvt corporate hospitals in India (the names you mentioned) , you may end up getting substandard care. I once encountered an infectious disease specialist who had returned from the USA to work in a top corporate Multispeciality hospital in India , he was questioning the terrible standards of the ICU in this hospital and commented how Pvt hospitals in India were averse to revealing data to researchers on hospital acquired infections . Cases of gross medical negligence are innumerable in India . Most people are not able to fight the cases after a tragedy because they may not be able to get the professional and legal help required to prove medical negligence , also the redressal mechanism takes years . The Patients or their survivors are often advised by lawyers not to pursue a criminal case but approach the consumer courts instead. Only last month after 13 years , " National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has directed the Indraprastha Apollo hospital and a gynaecologist associated with the hospital to pay Rs 1 crore as compensation to a couple for the disability and eventual death of their daughter due to “substandard care during labour”. ".

The rot is sytemic. And the ambiguity in these cases, by design. The Non Disclosure Agreements that the Doctors, RMOs, and the nursing staff sign prohibit them from giving away anything to a 3rd party/ research firm without prior consent of the higher ups. That consent takes time, during which the data is doctored to make the hospitals look good. Further more the Medical Council of India would revoke their right to practice in India if they are to give disclose anything even remotely controversial ( from the POV of the hospital). The more prestigious the hospital, the tougher it is to get info out of it. I'm not too sure even if RTI amply covers this sector wrt machine and medicne procurement, taxes levied on them, subsidies they get etc. I've heard many cases of even their balance sheets showing huge discrepancies (but that is another story). Long story short, the hospitals are run like assembly lines. And when margins are more important that the Hippocratic oath, these things are bound to happen once in a while. I can also understand the reason for filing a consumer case and not a criminal case. A criminal case (negligence) is more difficult to prove. Consumer court cases are relatively easier to get a conviction in, faster. Flip side is that the quantum of punishment is lighter.