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Category: Discussions
January 01, 2004
Brand-named prescription drugs are called 'ethical drugs' by the drug industry. Nothing could be more wrong. Many of these ethical drugs are unscientific and irrational combinations (for example Ampiclox), or plain harmful (for example Analgin, Nimesulide, etc.), or harmless but cause wasteful ex...
January 01, 2004
The race for the launch of new drugs, brands and combination drugs has resulted in nearly 50–80 new entries in the market in the year 2002 alone. Is it 'healthy' to have such a flooding of the market with new drugs? Do these new drugs really have benefits over their older congeners as most of the...
January 01, 2004
The Indian pharmaceutical industry is a leading sector of the economy, with drug companies well-represented among the blue chip shares on the stock market. Drugs are also an integral part of medical therapy. However, in my experience as a practising doctor and a health activist, I believe that ou...
January 01, 2003
lectroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an important treatment in psychiatry; despite the myth that it is a barbaric and outdated practice, it is as relevant today as it was over six decades ago, when it was first introduced. This is because ECT can be life-saving in catatonic, suicidal, or otherwise h...
January 01, 2003
The Supreme Court petition by the voluntary organisation Saarthak has triggered off a debate on the treatment of persons with mental disorders in India.
January 01, 2003
Domestic violence is becoming recognised as a serious public health issue. Country studies have shown that between 16 and 40 per cent of women in the Asia and Pacific region had suffered violence by their intimate family members. The medical profession must be sensitised to provide special suppor...
January 01, 2003
"The mentally ill person deserves the same privileges enjoyed by any other human being," wrote the National Human Rights Commission in its report Quality Assurance in Mental Health published in 1999. The mentally ill person is protected by the Declaration on the Rights of the Disabled, a...
October 01, 2002
This review is meant to be a starting point for discussion of legal and ethical questions faced by medical professionals in relation to Acute Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Existing laws and the Code of Medical Ethics require re-examination in the light of the profession's experiences.
October 01, 2002
6.6 Human rights: The physician shall not aid or abet torture nor shall he be a party to either infliction of mental or physical trauma or concealment of torture inflicted by some other person or agency in clear violation of human rights.
October 01, 2002
A married woman was tested for HIV in a medical check-up prior to tubectomy. She tested positive. The result was conveyed to the aunt who accompanied her, and the operation was cancelled. The aunt spread the news that the woman had 'AIDS' to relatives and neighbours. People stopped coming to thei...