Mediwikileaks

If you have ever passed through government hospitals, then you have seen that apart from the horrible state that the                hospitals are in the absolute worst thing is the way in which pregnant women are treated at the hospitals.  Picture Courtesy - http://www.may28.org/obstetric-violence/ Mostly these government hospitals are overcrowded and many a times women in labor are sent back until such time as they are crowning because there is no place to admit them. Also the worst behavior is meted out to women giving birth by being verbally abusive to them, putting too much pressure directly on their stomach during and fracturing arms and legs of newborns while trying to pull them out in a hurry.  There is also no privacy and cleanliness is a real issue. At a time that should be one of the most memorable and beautiful in a women’s life is turned into a more stressful affair than what it’s normally is. Most women feel lonely, humiliated and have horror stories to tell o

Previously published here . Wait, before you dismiss this question casually and think ‘Oh no, not another feminist post’, please give some thought to the question in all honesty. I want you to reflect back on the last time that your mom was not feeling well and she brushed it off because everyone including her thought that she had some high BP due to some emotional issues. She would sleep through the day and feel better. You attributed your constant girlfriend’s constant complaints body pain on periods. Or you off handedly dismissed your wife’s general weakness because women generally have low hemoglobin and low Vit D ‘usme kya hai!’. I personally know of so many times that I have gone to a doctor and expressed concern about irregular periods or losing hair or even acne only for these concerns to be brushed off casually. Perhaps it’s also one of the reasons why women prefer going to woman doctors instead of male ones because their concerns are easily brushed off. Irres

I've always had a problem with the way doctors are treated in India. Especially, in the smaller towns where the penetration of education is low...people think doctors are gods. Even mediocre medical professionals who consult in villages are considered clever than the patients and in a way revered and respected. However, over the years this has created such a divide between the doctor and the patient that even until now Indian patients have a problem opening up to their doctors. Even today I see patients asking the pharmasict/chemist at the medical store about how to take the medicines - pre lunch or post lunch etc...instead of asking the doctors. Here are something I want to define for Indian patients, somethings I wish I could always tell them about the medical profession : 1. Medicine in India is defined as a 'Service'. Just the way you hire your maid or a taxi...the medical professional you hire is a just service and as such if you are cheated in any way or unsat

A lot of my friends have been wondering how one can become an Organ Donor in India and if you need to register with a particular hospital or clinic etc.  The most important thing to know about Organ Donation is that, you need not be tied down to or registered with any hospital in the world to be an Organ Donor. All you really need is FACEBOOK! Yes I mean it. Facebook.  Mark Zuckerberg has made it very easy for you to become a Organ Donor. No matter which part of the world you are in, you can actually become and Organ Donor on Facebook and announce it tot he world.  Here is how : Select the "Help Centre" on Facebook after you have logged in and select your Organ Donor status:  Just choose the become an Organ Donor and it will take you to your country respective registry. In India it is this website : Just input your Name and other details and you are officially an Organ Donor. It is that easy and yes it is a valid regist

The White House today made an announcement that will affect thousands of organ transplant recipeints in USA to reduce their waiting time and enable to the number of transplants per day to increase dramatically.  According to research 100% of USA population favours Organ donation and would be ready to donate their organs but only 50% end up doing so.  So according to the three pronged approach initiated by Mr. Barack Obama includes developments in the following three areas has been considered:  1. Development of New Technologies  One the first announcements was to support newer technologies that would allow for organ replacment in the future with new tissue development and other technologies like 3D printing.  "New breakthroughs in bioengineering, transplantation, and organ preservation can further increase the number of organ transplants and improve outcomes," the President's office said. 2. Reducing time taken for Donor Organ to reach

There is finally some good news for transplant patients in India. The National Pharmacuetical pricing authority of India has reduced some of the cost of major immunosuppresants by almost 20-50%.  The most important among these is Prograf and Pangraf one of the main immunosuppresant for Kidney Transplant Patients. The cost of dailysis, transplant and the follow up medicine is too prohibitve for many Indian patients. further low education and awareness levels contributed to patients skipping medicine to save money or taking them only every altrernate day. A lot others preffered to stay on dailysis due to not being able to afford the cost of transplant and better medicines. While the cost of Tacrolimus has been dractically reduced the other drugs by Roche and Novartis haven't seen as much reduction. We hope the government will be able to bring down the price of all the drugs and blood tests realted to transplant and give a huge boost to organ donation in India.  Fruther mo

Really breaks my heart to share this but this news has recently been making rounds and has now been confirmed by Renal and Urology news. End Stage Renal Dailysis patients along with homeodailysis have now have a added concern of cancer after it was learned that dialysis patients are at a higher risk of cancer. source This comes on the heels of the high cancer risks faced by transplants patients evn after transplant due to the immunosupprespants that compromises thier immunity and nutritional indeficiences. Most common cancers in ESRD patients Liver, Kidney, Bladder and Blood Cancer. Here is also a scholarly article from Taiwan on the same . As always stay informaed and make a informed decision on whether dailysis is right for you and your loved ones.

Arthritis is one of the biggest illnesses in India and almost 14% of the entire population suffers from it.  Those plagued with the most common form of arthritis are told to take paracetamol to relieve their pain. But a major study published yesterday found it does little to ease agony caused by osteoarthritis - as many sufferers can no doubt attest. The research, published in The Lancet, warned no matter how high the dose, paracetamol is ineffective against this form of the condition. Osteoarthritis affects up to 10 per cent of men and 18 per cent of women worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation. Paracetamol has traditionally been the main treatment for the condition, because although stronger drugs are more effective, paracetamol has fewer side effects. Research has found the powerful painkiller diclofenac was the most effective treatment, but it comes with severe effects if used over the long-term. Other alternate way to deal with Arthritis pain woul

Drugs from a number of prominant companies has been banned by the Indian Government. This is done in lieu of an alarming number of people developing high resistance to anti biotics. Please do check your drugs before taking them. Source - Hindutan Times URL -  http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/not-just-vicks-and-benadryl-india-has-banned-342-other-drugs-too/story-4mvpDezyQoqfC7Z12lF9JJ.html One of India’s most popular medicines for cough and cold, Vicks Action 500 Extra, will not be available in chemist shops any more after the government banned fixed dose combination drugs. Apart from Vicks, India has banned the manufacture and sale of more than 300 combination medicines, including two widely used cough syrups, being sold without government approval. The move is aimed at curbing the misuse of such medicines in India, where nearly half the drugs sold in 2014 were so called “fixed dose combinations.” On Monday, drug majors Pfizer and Abbott stopped sale of their popular