Strange encounters with the "alcoholic" kind !

So, a long-due act was recently passed in the state of Maharashtra. The Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institution (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act, 2010 was passed by the Maharashtra Assembly on the 9th of April this year. What this means is that, any individual (or group, for that matter) found attacking any doctor or medicare personnel, will attract a (minimum) fine of Rs. 50,000 and imprisonment for three years and it will now be considered a non-bailable offence.

You might be wondering what the aforementioned tidbit has to do with the title of this post??? Read on.....
This happened during my Internship.....when I was posted to the Dept. of Internal Medicine. As I've (tirelessly!) mentioned earlier about the workload at this district hospital I trained at(because of the paucity of residents.....Interns work like Residents- read "bakras").....I'm not gonna delve into details (for your benefit). This was peak season for admissions (hospital-admissions, mind you) and I was handed over the Male Medical Ward as per my rotating internship programme. There were around 27 patients under my care (and only me, alone!!!) during this period. We were required to see the patients on admission, write their case-history, medicine orders (everyday that they were admitted there, that too twice a day), do blood collections and other minor procedures (like catheterization), etc etc. (hope you get the hint). All this and 27 patients to top it all, sure took its toll on me. And one day, I missed out on seeing one of the patients. After our rounds (with the Senior Consultants), I realised my folly. So, that evening I went and apologised to the aforementioned patient. Fortunately, the relatives were very understanding. As I was about to leave, I heard someone abuse me....(specifically using the word "doctor", and I was the only doc around). I didn't heed....but then the abuses went on and on....and all the patients and relatives in the ward (mind you, this was a general ward) were aghast. I turned back and went to see what the problem was. Believe you me, this patient looked like he was hardly in his senses (diagnosed with "Alcohol-Withdrawal Syndrome") and he wasn't under my care (as in, he was admitted under another Unit), so I began to walk away. But the abuses didn't stop, and now this degrading attitude of his, really began to piss me off.....after all I hadn't spent the past four and a half years studying Medicine, to listen to people like him, abuse doctors like us!!! So I asked him what his problem was, sternly. He actually had the audacity to hit me....though I ducked at the right moment and was spared of his wrath (unlike "first time in labour"). Taken aback, I called the security guard on duty.....but this delirious man wasn't in a mood to give up and went on about how "you doctors" don't give a damn about poor patients....how that patient suffered (which was absolutely untrue) and the like. All this while, his poor wife was a silent bystander to this drama and now even she tried to "console" him. But I really don't know what strength "ALCOHOL" gives people.....three security guards later and his wife holding onto him couldn't stop this guy's attempt to pounce on me. I really didn't understand the reason for his wrath against medicare personnel in general. A few seconds later, the patient's doc (Resident Doc of that particular Unit) came in. He ordered for some tranquilizers. Two shots of Diazepam didn't do the trick. Finally after a lot of attempts to pacify him and a lot of violence on the part of the Resident Doc (yup, have to do that at times), Chlorpromazine and Phenargan, both potent drugs.....did the trick. He conked off. Further probing revealed that his wife was used to this drama at home and often wound up getting beaten up. And yet, she supported her husband.....I was at a loss for words. The next day, this patient was discharged (Against Medical Advice- DAMA).....and it seems he couldn't remember anything about this "interesting" incident !!! Woah....!!!

And so this is one particular "breed of patients" we see on a regular basis at Government Hospitals..... this man hadn't realized the damage that alcohol had done to his brain, liver, kidneys, heart and virtually every organ in his body.....I hope you do, before its too late. . . . . !
P.S.: And on similar lines (as my previous "labour story"), this "man" visited me again when I was in the Surgery OPD.....with his kids having multiple abrasions and contusions, saying they had fallen while playing.....whether they had really fallen or were "made to fall" is an entirely different story.
Sordid state of affairs, I must say. . . . . !

GOLDEN YEARS at my ALMA MATER

Continuing the series on Videos......this one also has something to do with Internship.....and a whole lot more !!!
In sharp contrast to the video posted before, this one's more about the good times at my medical college......a sort of collage of photographs (and memories attached to them) with some soothing Bollywood Music in the background.
NOTE: Please excuse the gross spelling and grammatical errors in the video......coz even though I feature in it, I haven't edited it !!!
Watch, and share some of those memories with me. . . . . .

GELCO: INTERNSHIP UNCUT

This video I'm posting, is created around the life of a Medical Intern (portrayed in a very humorous light). The characters, situations and locations shown in the video are not fictitious.
Although the work that I've done during my internship, in my college-attached District Hospital is nothing like how its portrayed here (as in, it wasn't limited to blood collection, catheters etc.....but much much, much more); the video does give one, a perspective on the trials and tribulations, the red-tape and juz plain BS that an Intern deals with.......just to get that oh-so-coveted "COMPLETION" and his hard earned "measly" stipend !!!
Watch.....and you shall be enlightened (and entertained) !!!
It's not easy becoming a DOCTOR in this country.....thats all I can say !!!

BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY: Justice Delayed.....Justice Denied !

On December 2,1984 at around midnight, there was a leak of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas from the Union Carbide India Ltd. (UCIL) Pesticide Plant in Bhopal, resulting in the exposure of this toxic gas to over 5,00,000 people.....and there you have the largest industrial disaster to date!
The earliest reference to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy that I can gather, was from our Science textbooks in Secondary School. Obviously, at that time I hadn't realized the magnitude of the problem (what with the text matter limited to a few lines in our textbooks).....but now, reading various articles on the net and in the newspapers have actually opened my eyes to the great disaster that it was.
Estimates vary on the death toll; some say around 3,000 and others around 15,000. Others estimate that around 8,000 died within the first few weeks and another 8,000 have since died from gas-related ailments. And the foibles continue, what with epidemiological reports showing eye problems, respiratory difficulties, immunological disorders, neurological disorders, cardiac failure secondary to lung injury, female reproductive difficulties, etc. among those affected and birth defects among children born to affected women.
So what had happened exactly?
The UCIL factory was established in 1969 near Bhopal. It produced the pesticide "Carbaryl" (Sevin). In 1979, a "Methyl Isocyanate" production plant was added to the site. Now, MIC is an extremely toxic gas, which can cause damage by inhalation, ingestion and contact in quantities as low as 0.4 ppm. Proper care must be taken to store MIC because of its ease of exothermically polymerizing and its similar sensitivity to water. MIC, an intermediary in carbaryl production, was used instead of less hazardous but more expensive materials (other manufacturers like Bayer made carbaryl without MIC, though at greater manufacturing costs).
On the night of December 2-3, large amounts of water entered a tank containing 42 tonnes of MIC (during cleaning work; while some claim due to bad maintenance and leaking valves).....causing exothermic reactions and pressure changes leading to a release of large volumes of toxic gases into the atmosphere. The gases flooded the city of Bhopal, causing great panic as people woke up with a burning sensation in their chests. Thousands died immediately from the effects of the gas and many were trampled in the panic.
Various factors complicated the issue.....Besides the poor maintenance and various "money-saving" approaches adopted at the plant, the problem was made worse by the plant's location near a densely populated area, non-existent disaster-management plans and shortcomings in health-care and socio-economic rehabilitation.
Over two decades since the tragedy, many civil and criminal cases remain pending in US district court, Manhattan and District Court, Bhopal against UC (now owned by Dow Chemical Company) with an Indian arrest warrant also pending against Warren Anderson, CEO of UC at that time. As the UC boss, Anderson knew about a 1982 safety audit of the Bhopal plant which identified thirty major hazards. Rather than fix them in Bhopal, only the Company's identical plant in the US was fixed. Neglecting these hazards in Bhopal caused the deadly explosion.
On June 7 2010, seven former employees of UC (all Indian nationals) were convicted of causing death due to negligence and were sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined Rs. 1 lakh (approx $ 2000). All were released on bail (surety of Rs.25,000) shortly after the verdict. APPALLING, to say the least !!!
Surveys and laboratory analyses from water sources around the plant still show contamination of the ground-water (with pesticides). A recent analysis (by BBC) actually showed traces of Carbon Tetrachloride (a liver carcinogen) from a water sample taken from a hand-pump located within a 3-km radius of the plant.
And the main reason why this incident was almost completely ignored for the past two decades is because it had nothing to do with celebrities or well-known politicians or their kith & kin.....but with the "aam-aadmi" (ordinary citizen) of this country.
Kudos to us all!!!!

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster

The Sights, Sounds and Smells of MUMBAI

NOTE: This is a blog version of my previously published article in our College Magazine. It's normally the other way around (i.e. print version of a blog), but hey.....it's my blog after all! So, here goes.....

As soon as you enter the street, a cloud of brown dust covers your face and before you have time to recover, you are toppled off your two feet. Welcome to Mumbai- a little sadness, some hardship, but loads of happiness and wonderful feelings!
Mumbai, the city where I was born, brought up and where I live. I am quite familiar with its sights, sounds and smells, if not entirely. It is the city I love: it lures me when I am not here. But I still have something to complain about- a perfect combination.
Mumbai, right from Churchgate to Virar, is a land of miracles. A land of extremes, a land of contrasts. The richest people lying on mattresses of money, live here. The poorest people lying on the muddy streets, live here. People flaunting their Versaces and Armanis, and people who only have a metre of linen to cover their body. People moving around in their chauffeur-driven Mercedes Benz rub shoulders with those (un)fortunate enough to have only their two bare feet to move around. There are people who live at Marine Drive in their ultra-modern homes and then there are those who live at Marine Drive on the pavements. Again, a land of contrasts.
The tallest of skyscrapers, the neon lights, the colour, the money, the richness of Mumbai drapes a cloth over your eye till you open your eye to the small huts; the darkness, the poverty, the hunger of Mumbai. It's all here and we all have to live with it.


There are people all around you, pushing you to the limit. They will push you and push you and push you some more, till one day your lungs cry out for space. In this city that never sleeps, even morning won't give you solace, what with the incessant honking of cars bringing you back to the real world. And when the morning paper arrives, you read nothing but bad news. Get ready to go the office, jostling for that inch of space on the packed local trains. In the evenings, come back all sticky and tired from work, wanting some peace and quietude. You expect peace at home, but then you probably haven't heard of television and the barrage of ethnic serials doing the rounds today!
But notwithstanding all this, this city has a lot to offer. If Mumbai didn't have the charm, would it attract thousands of people from all over the globe to come and try out their luck here? Mumbai has the glamour and lavishness, like a gold foil covering a stone. But even this gold foil is attractive enough to bring and more importantly, keep people here!
Mumbai might not be the best city in the world but which other city can compare with its extremes and contrasts? Mumbai might not be a New York, London, Paris or even a Shanghai, but it still is good enough to make me live in it, love it and sleep every night believing in a better dawn. . . . .