Being Mortal

Oh...on this nice Sunday, I've an unpleasant topic for you to think about. Though unpleasant, everyone of us have to climb that ladder, and so better be aware !

Are you aware that our medical system is  so cruel that ….

Surgeons  compel patients and their  relatives to perform surgeries/operations, with the full  knowledge  that it is not going to cure or improve the  condition in any way ! ?

People are dying in hospitals in the hands of strangers !?

People spend their last days going through operations , in ICUs, or on ventilators,  experiencing an expensive medicalised end .  This  is doing harm than good !?

Newer medicines are introduced as part of treatment  (you are a genuia pig ! ) , which may extend life but not quality !?

At your terminal, do you want to be on a machine, being unable to talk, having a feeding tube, not being at  home ?   

No, the system must change !

If you are confused and worried over this issue, please read the book “Being Mortal” by Dr. Atul Gawande,  an American-Indian surgeon.  And there is the excerpts of an interview with him in BusinessLine (dt-27 Dec), which I’ve reproduced below.