The Apollo Cover Up: Are Pvt. Hospitals loosing all Ethics

Dear All, todays topic could be a Frankenstein’s monster some day

The Mahajan Maamla being unraveled in bits and parts in the last three days over all television channels is not only intriguing but is becoming more complex by the day. Leaving aside the thousand of questions that come up in this case like - Is Rahul a drug addict, was he poisoned, why Mahajan’s other secretary admitted himself in the hospital etc etc, the key question and a serious issue is that of how ethical are hospitals today? An Apollo hospital’s is a trusted name in the health industry. Though they have an image of being costlier than other medical institutions, yet over the years its also come to be recognized as an hospital which is value for money, considering its league of Dr.’s and that of it being state of the art technology. The hospital is known to send its Dr.’s on international seminars and sessions to keep its Dr.’s abreast of the latest in medical science. Now if that is an image created only by its PR agency or if there are shades of truth in the media reports, can be argued. However Apollo hospitals has also always been in the midst of various controversies. The Mahajan Maamla seems to be just one more case that Apollo with its clout will again come over. But these indications do not ordain good for the common man. For many people in this country, who use their hard earned earnings to receive treatment at hospitals like Apollo, Escorts and the newly come up Max and Fortis, if these hospitals show lackadaisical attitude to patient care, and further demonstrate a lack of ethics then it’s a danger signal. Very obviously Apollo made a cover up for whom ? still remains a mystery, but that it was a cover up is beyond doubt. Goaded by someone ? Apollo showed over zealousness in calling a press conference to announce that neither poison nor any drug traces were found in the toxicology test of Rahul Mahajan. The immediate question that came to mind was that all the three boys and Sahil’s statement to police as to the flow of events of the night were all concocted – a cock and bull story. That one was a little too much to believe. But the next day was even better – As per AIIMS report Moitra’s body had traces of Thallium as well as Cocaine. Further the report from CFSL confirmed the AIIMS reports. But this did not seem to faze Apollo, who gave a statement announcing their adherence to their report. By this time Apollo had become the Big Joker and the laughing stock of the country. A lot of angry Indians were also voicing their indignation as to Apollo’s sell off for Money or under political pressure, resulting finally in Apollo taking a step back since their morning statement of adherence and suddenly hold another press conference and hand over the toxicology test reports both done by Apollo internally and also sent by Apollo to lal path labs. It was as if midway through the afternoon, Some senior Apollo Dr. Saw the mistake overlooked by some junior doc, and discovered that there was after all traces of drugs in Rahul’s body, and so the press conference. Beyond any doubt, here was Apollo – a medical institution, which is looked upon by millions, as messiah and life giver’s playing dirty. Weren’t Dr.’s supposed to be more ethical. Or has Apollo forgotten the Hippocratic Oath ? ? Now will we have hospitals also, which decide the results keeping in mind only the colour of money? So will even hospitals create different kind of treatments (even when it is paid for) depending upon your family background its money power and political clout ? This augurs a serious thought. The country very soon is going to have private health facilities outdoing all govt medical infrastructures. But are we expecting such facilities. Do we need new protective laws regulating hospitals like Apollo and laws that protect the interest of the patient more then anything else ? ? At the end hospitals are the thin line between a patients Life & Death.

We invite your comments on this issue. Till collective participatory initiative does not come into force, we don’t have any chance of improving our life and society.

Warm Regards,