Every third person I know in Assam has either got his or her appendix removed or is in the process of getting it done. Every other person I know is either on injections or on tonics for a 'spoilt liver'. The textbooks make no mention of these entities but we find doctors diagnosing something called 'chronic appendicitis' that needs to be operated upon at the earliest, and 'chronic hepatitis' that needs tonics. A silent epidemic is taking its toll on the community. It is an epidemic of irrational medical practice. Those most affected are the poorest in the villages.