Cancer patients in India cheated of appropriate care
Letter: Medical community may be partly responsible for cancer misery BMJ Volume 326, p 1146
A letter in this week's BMJ charges the medical community in India with a "commercialisation of suffering and prolongation of lucrative illness."
Dr Chatuverdi, Assistant Surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai states that, in a country with 3 million cancer sufferers – of whom 80 per cent are incurable – there are only 20 dedicated cancer centres and 13 hospices. Those with advanced conditions are consequently made to feel they should forego non-paying resources, he claims. As a result, they often undergo unwarranted and ineffectual treatments at the hands of private practitioners.
The letter goes on to outline how aspects of appropriate care in developed countries – palliative care, counselling, rehabilitation, are rarely offered.
While a culture of promoting lucrative but inappropriate treatments prevails, he argues, medical practitioners of the future will follow suit.
