Tackling crisis of medical malpractice.
Not Admitting an Error is the best medicine for Indian Doctors.
Admitting fault and saying sorry can be hard for any one, but for an Indian doctor whose medical error has killed a patient it can mean nothing, but for an American doctor a lawsuit that ends his or her career.
My point of writing this letter is to resolve a situation about my Mother’s sad and unfortunate death so that such an episode from incompetent medical misconduct does not occur again and lead to more untimely deaths in future.
I recall that fateful night of July 7th’09, at 2.30 am, when my dearest mother fell ill with no electricity in the entire village and severe rainfall outside. My heart stopped working, I had no where to go, I picked up the phone and called the only doctor available in our village not knowing his past medical record and arranged the hired van driver to pick him up and dropped at my residence to examine my mother.
He came and examined and found her pressure was very low and gave her a dose of 2 injections and said these injections are very costly. This attempt to give injections was seriously impaired by lack of knowledge of absorption and distribution in the body, the side effects and possibility of cross reactions with other medicine she was taking. He never even inquired as to what medication she was taking all this time. After this my mother gained little strength and he said now she is fine no problem. But I kept asking him, can we take her to the hospital outside Divar for better treatment and diagnosis as she never felt sick like this before, he said no need even though the hired van driver was still present at the site and he left the house around 3.30 a .m. My mother was there on the bed in a condition not so good.
Again in the morning around 6.00 am my mother felt the pain of uneasiness and I summoned the doctor again where he gave one more injection and said she will be ok. I remember pleading to him again on our way out asking him shall I take her to the hospital, where again his reply was no need, she will be fine and at around 8.30 am my loving mother breathed her last. This tragedy was hard for us (children) to take.
Due to this unprofessional medical negligence we lost our dearest mother. How can we trust this doctor’s advice who takes somebody’s life in his own hands? My mother had 6 long hours for better treatment before she succumbed to death. Even when I called him when my mother passed away he said I am on my way out to work and till today never even gave a courtesy call or visited us.
It’s a cultural thing in medicine, that initial instinct to pull back and to sever the relationship with the patient or family and calm up a way to mitigate the chances of backfire. But Dr. D’mello till today never even visited us and not even produced death certificate; we had to arrange it from other doctor.
My purpose here is to enlighten my fellow Divarkars, to be vigilant in the near future when such incidents occur, where we call the same quack doctor (Dr. D’mello) not knowing his past history, with no medical background and experience in this field and the number of cases he mishandled in our Divar Island. So, do wakeup, before it’s too late to correct these medical malpractices. Today it was my Mother tomorrow it can be yours…
This doctor only thinks about his personal monetary gains and prescribes his own medicine, from where God only knows its source, nor does he give any prescription to his patients and before examining the patience he will ask how much money they are carrying.
I checked about his history since he made rumours that he was employed by the Salgaorcars hospital. I contacted all the possible departments there, as no body knows him or heard his name. Finally, one person told me he was at the Salgaorcars Surla mines asked me to contact there and the information I got was that 5 years back he was terminated & was employed as a First Aid Assistant at the Mining Site.
Later on we questioned him at his residence about the injections he administered; first thing he said was those injections he gave were costly ones, asked him as to what he diagnosed and the type of injections he gave. He said he diagnosed about gas & heart problem, so how can you guess something and take someone’s life in your own hands. It’s a clear case of misdiagnosing, his personal greed, and medical malpractices lead to my mother's death. This Dr. D’mello is the resident of Divar but never practiced in our village for lack of fear and lack of his knowledge in the medical field. But now he took the opportunity as no Government/health dept. is bothered to despatch one qualified doctor to our village nor do our panchayat take any step forward in this regard. These have been non existence in our village for quite a long time and we are totally handicapped being on an island and at the mercy of this type unprofessional little knowledged practitioners.
Therefore, now it’s high time for the concerned authorities to look into tackling this Medical Malpractice Crisis. Find out whether all the doctors in our state if registered with Goa Medical Council or Indian Medical Association governing body are well experienced & qualified. And not with fake degree stuck on their entrance doors with too little knowledge, like quack doctor.
I would like to extend an invite the concerned parties to contact me to discuss the
issue further so that a resolution will be resolved.
Eldon Carlos,
Behbehani Motors Company
Porsche Volkswagen,
Kuwait. Tel : 00 965 24831929
Tel: 24844000 Ext: 247.
Fax: 00 965 4844000 / 4830639
October 4, 2009
G'BYE GOA: GOANS OF TODAY. By Valmiki Faleiro.
G’bye Goa: Goans of today…
By Valmiki Faleiro
Chandan Lakra, Kavitadevi Jangam and Ranjan Pandia are today’s Goans who won
medals for Goa at the recent (July-2009) Lusofonia Games in Lisbon. Goa’s own
Sonali Chakraborty won 3rd place at a national essay competition in April-2008.
“Miss Goa” last year was a lass named Harshita Saxena.
Sample three reports from the single edition of a local paper (June 8, 2009):
* Town Police Inspector today said that Tara Sumappa Rajput reported theft of a
temple donation box at Monte, Margao.
* In another case, the PI disclosed that they have arrested Mahendra Dave, native of
Rajasthan, on a complaint of cheating by Kimraj Chowdhury, resident of Margao.
* Fearing surgery, a 40-year-old resident of Cumbarjua committed suicide, per Ponda
PSI Tukaram Chavan, investigating the case under supervision of PI, C.L. Patil.
Sharada Rathod who knows not to read or write, and signs with her thumb, is/was
Sarpanch of Sancoale, once a hoary village of prominent Salcete Saraswats,
including Margao’s Vithalwadi-Comba Naiks.
Former MLAs Sangeeta Parab, Mohan Amshekar, Shambu Bhau Bandekar, Babuso
Gaunkar and sitting MLA Victoria Fernandes, at a “Legislator’s Day” not long ago,
staged a play titled, “No SEZ, no Kannada CM!”
Migrants are not so visible today because bulk is from the labour class. A family of
ten could be crammed into the outhouse of a Goan’s larger house of perhaps two or
three occupants. Give the younger migrant generation time to be educated and grow.
That’s when, slowly but surely, village panchas and Sarpanchas, civic councillors and
mayors, MLAs and the Chief Minister would be ... toss a coin … a Kannadiga or
Kashmiri, a Malayali or Maharashtrian.
It’s just a matter of a few years.
A million migrants would make no difference in a large state. In a place like Goa, with
just over one-half million souls in 1961, already strapped with mass emigration and a
negative birth rate, this phenomenal population surge translates into an altogether
different story.
Realities are reflected even in villages. Try approaching someone by the roadside
(for directions, for instance.) The odds are that you will be greeted with a “boliye”
(speak up) or “malum nahin” (I don’t know.) Older post-1961 migrants sure know the
local lingo and the locality as well as a Goan.
As of now, forget industry where Goans won’t account for 10% of workers, either
because they lack the skills, shun menial jobs, or despise low wages. Common
occupations like fishing, vending (check the fruit and vegetable markets across Goa),
street hawkers, cooks and waiters, drivers/conductors of public transport buses,
construction and road workers, barbers, even beggars … bulk is migrant. (More on
this next Sunday.)
Where there is work, and no local workers, migrants are bound to be attracted, like
bees to a flower. Migrants are here because a livelihood is here.
The demography of Goa has so changed that USA-based friend Arnold Noronha
remarks, “Departing Goa for a long sojourn, an expatriate, on returning, could feel
like Rip Van Winkle in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The land he once knew,
traditionally and culturally, has yielded to inexorable vicissitudes carrying the Tides of
History.”
Wrote the famed Indian journalist Jug Suraiya on April 1, 2006: “Last week when I
was there, Goa whizzed past me. Goa? Whizzing? How could laidback Goa ever be
made to whiz? What was whizzing about were people. Not local Goans, but people
from outside ... Goa is selling like hot vindaloo. And pretty soon there'll be no more of
it left to sell, or to buy. And when that happens, Goa will stop being Goa and become
something else. Like Ghatkopar, or Brixton, or Greater Kailash III. Already Baga and
Calangute look like Lajpat Nagar market. The thought saddens me. For when Goa
stops being Goa, what will Goans do? Rent the place back from the new owners?”
P.S: One can only sigh when an environmentalist of the commitment of Rajendra
Kerkar is being ostracized in his home village, for pursuing the tiger-killing case.
Obvious the trap was not laid for a tiger (no one eats tiger meat here.) When one got
ensnared, the trap-layers must have decided the best way out was to kill the
wounded animal. But ostracize Kerkar? (ENDS)
The above article appeared in the Herald, Goa, edition of October 4, 2009
By Valmiki Faleiro
Chandan Lakra, Kavitadevi Jangam and Ranjan Pandia are today’s Goans who won
medals for Goa at the recent (July-2009) Lusofonia Games in Lisbon. Goa’s own
Sonali Chakraborty won 3rd place at a national essay competition in April-2008.
“Miss Goa” last year was a lass named Harshita Saxena.
Sample three reports from the single edition of a local paper (June 8, 2009):
* Town Police Inspector today said that Tara Sumappa Rajput reported theft of a
temple donation box at Monte, Margao.
* In another case, the PI disclosed that they have arrested Mahendra Dave, native of
Rajasthan, on a complaint of cheating by Kimraj Chowdhury, resident of Margao.
* Fearing surgery, a 40-year-old resident of Cumbarjua committed suicide, per Ponda
PSI Tukaram Chavan, investigating the case under supervision of PI, C.L. Patil.
Sharada Rathod who knows not to read or write, and signs with her thumb, is/was
Sarpanch of Sancoale, once a hoary village of prominent Salcete Saraswats,
including Margao’s Vithalwadi-Comba Naiks.
Former MLAs Sangeeta Parab, Mohan Amshekar, Shambu Bhau Bandekar, Babuso
Gaunkar and sitting MLA Victoria Fernandes, at a “Legislator’s Day” not long ago,
staged a play titled, “No SEZ, no Kannada CM!”
Migrants are not so visible today because bulk is from the labour class. A family of
ten could be crammed into the outhouse of a Goan’s larger house of perhaps two or
three occupants. Give the younger migrant generation time to be educated and grow.
That’s when, slowly but surely, village panchas and Sarpanchas, civic councillors and
mayors, MLAs and the Chief Minister would be ... toss a coin … a Kannadiga or
Kashmiri, a Malayali or Maharashtrian.
It’s just a matter of a few years.
A million migrants would make no difference in a large state. In a place like Goa, with
just over one-half million souls in 1961, already strapped with mass emigration and a
negative birth rate, this phenomenal population surge translates into an altogether
different story.
Realities are reflected even in villages. Try approaching someone by the roadside
(for directions, for instance.) The odds are that you will be greeted with a “boliye”
(speak up) or “malum nahin” (I don’t know.) Older post-1961 migrants sure know the
local lingo and the locality as well as a Goan.
As of now, forget industry where Goans won’t account for 10% of workers, either
because they lack the skills, shun menial jobs, or despise low wages. Common
occupations like fishing, vending (check the fruit and vegetable markets across Goa),
street hawkers, cooks and waiters, drivers/conductors of public transport buses,
construction and road workers, barbers, even beggars … bulk is migrant. (More on
this next Sunday.)
Where there is work, and no local workers, migrants are bound to be attracted, like
bees to a flower. Migrants are here because a livelihood is here.
The demography of Goa has so changed that USA-based friend Arnold Noronha
remarks, “Departing Goa for a long sojourn, an expatriate, on returning, could feel
like Rip Van Winkle in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The land he once knew,
traditionally and culturally, has yielded to inexorable vicissitudes carrying the Tides of
History.”
Wrote the famed Indian journalist Jug Suraiya on April 1, 2006: “Last week when I
was there, Goa whizzed past me. Goa? Whizzing? How could laidback Goa ever be
made to whiz? What was whizzing about were people. Not local Goans, but people
from outside ... Goa is selling like hot vindaloo. And pretty soon there'll be no more of
it left to sell, or to buy. And when that happens, Goa will stop being Goa and become
something else. Like Ghatkopar, or Brixton, or Greater Kailash III. Already Baga and
Calangute look like Lajpat Nagar market. The thought saddens me. For when Goa
stops being Goa, what will Goans do? Rent the place back from the new owners?”
P.S: One can only sigh when an environmentalist of the commitment of Rajendra
Kerkar is being ostracized in his home village, for pursuing the tiger-killing case.
Obvious the trap was not laid for a tiger (no one eats tiger meat here.) When one got
ensnared, the trap-layers must have decided the best way out was to kill the
wounded animal. But ostracize Kerkar? (ENDS)
The above article appeared in the Herald, Goa, edition of October 4, 2009
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