In another entry of the Doctor Diaries section, Dr. Ashok Raina, a noted physician, shares his feelings on how deceptive and misleading ads are promoting the practice of quackery in India and disrupting a genuine doctor's practice.

Our country lacks the basic principle of valuing human life and this has cumulatively led to a situation where we all find ourselves and our profession today in a state of mess and anarchy. Advertising has become the modern-day tool for survival of all businesses and people go all the way beyond imagination to a lot of unrealistic lengths to highlight their product. 

Unfortunately, I belong to that age group of doctors, for whom Hippocratic Oath was a sacred sacrament and a bible/or for that matter any religiously revered book. But today, the socio-economic brutality has taken a toll on the Hippocratic oath as well, the result of which we see in these kinds of obnoxious advertisements.

Our health sector allows these and everyone goes scot-free because there are either, no rules and regulations to control such blatantly malicious advertisements which are playing with human lives and bringing disrepute to the profession of healthcare, or there is no will on part of the controlling authorities to curb this menace.

This is one part of the story which is genuinely hurting our profession, as some doctors or even institutions make a lot of tall claims and try to lure the common man to hallucinate about excellent care.

My personal experiences have shown that except for pomp and show of all big hospitals one finds no differences in the delivery of healthcare except; in such organisations the load isn't restricted to working doctors and the paramedic staff, they appear to be friendly. And against that in a public institute, because of the load and exhaustion, the doctors and the staff appear to be unfriendly.

This aptly explains that except for marketing gimmicks, there is nothing special about private institutions in terms of general health care deliverance. This is one aspect of the tragedy we doctors face and are not only often humiliated, disrespected but nowadays, bought and sold like an off counter commodity. The doctors, who resist such temptations of being traded as a commodity and love to work ethically in a congenial environment, are often a frustrated lot living a hand to mouth life and even at times in abject poverty.

But I am not here to talk about the malady which is facing our community. What pains more is the kind of competition as doctors, we have to face for our survival. That we have to compete with quackery and people from all sorts of hypothetical systems, unregulated, unscientific degenerated schools of so-called (pseudo) healthcare which easily mushroom like parasites and advertise using all means without being bothered for the safety of the patients or the laws and regulations of the country.

Case in point, the example highlighted below: how blatantly, the person is using an auto rickshaw to advertise his or her miracle cure for Asthma.

It is high time my dear pulmonologists close shop and change their jobs as there is no need for them according to this advertisement and yes the pharmaceutical companies too should stop manufacturing all those life-saving medications which we doctors use.

Indeed a shameful attitude of the authorities who, without properly investigating and authenticating such people allow them to mushroom and scavenge people and when any complication rises, it is the poor doctor who is blamed for being negligent and inefficient, is humiliated and even punished.

This phenomenon is perhaps only in our country and is allowed to mushroom so easily because of the fact that none of our institutions which are supposed to be the guardians of our profession are either sincere or well organised.

And lastly, whether it is the ministry of health or any organisation related to doctors, at times seems to be imbibed with a united culture of jointly working against the doctor community. Perhaps, they all brew an inherent jealousy against doctors and hence leave poor doctors high and dry to face and compete with such unscrupulous people and also be blamed for all the woes of the healthcare sector of our country.

But indeed it is the country at large which is suffering and indeed we the doctors alone are not responsible for such a poor healthcare infrastructure in the country.

Dr. Ashok Raina is a General Physician with more than 38 years of experience. He currently practices in Pune.