Today’s Highlight

GM Crops

Brinjal is the first genetically modified crop set to be decided for commercialization and the process of deciding it has raised the question: “Who to decide on GM crops?”

 Bob’s Banter

Prized Internet

Bob’s has his take on the recent report that internet is being considered for the Nobel prize in “And the prize goes to…!” 

For more insightful articles by Bob, hit his website – www.bobsbanter.com

CocktailPlaza

Also have a look at our trivia/sublime, random quotes, Indiana and recycled humour in this section – as and when we schedule them afresh – or in the archives.

The Laughter CD is on the website for you to view/ download.

The CD on laughter is loaded in the archives of this website for free downloading and use. Alert your friends who may be interested.

 Stay with us and help us to grow!

- John B. Monteiro

Who To Decide On GM Crops?

By John B. Monteiro

 “I am sorry, I don’t want to talk to health patients and you require mental help.” – Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on being called an “agent of Monsanto” by Santosh, an Ayurvedic doctor, at the seventh and final public consultation meet on Bt Brinjal held in Bangalore on February 6, 1010.

 Genetically modified (GM) crops evoke extreme positions – for and against. The question basically is who should decide on introducing – the scientists or the janata (which means popular vote or politicization). In India, the concerned scientific body, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee, has allowed the commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal, the first such food crop sought to be introduced in India. Despite this approval by a designated body, the minister has opted to go through the motions of developing a consensus through seven consultation meetings across the country. He has now promised that his ministry will take the final call on the subject on February 10. On the challenge before him, he said at the Bangalore meet: “I cannot ignore science or public opinion and have to walk a fine line between the two. Thus, even after the final verdict, the arguments are bound to continue, specially because there are other crops waiting in the line to switch over to the GM bandwagon – with powerful lobbies pushing for the conversion. What are these arguments for and against? Here are some sound-bites.

 Claude Alvares, the Goan environmentalist and director of Organic Farming Association of India: The question on everyone’s lips is why the government of India (GOI) so keen to allow powerful, undesirable and ruthless US corporations like Monsanto (represented within the country by companies like Mahyco) to privatize the basis of our food production system – the seed. Monsanto has gone on record saying that it is working towards creating a world in which all farmers everywhere will only use Monsanto seed (and naturally pay it fees for doing so). Since when did Monsanto’s aims become those of the GOI as well?…Imagine a situation in which more than 50 of India’s food and commercial crops come under the ownership of one or two or three companies because they carry willy-nilly proprietary genetic material and every seed for these crops will carry  a tax to be paid to Monsanto, Cargill or their agents. Can someone tell me how this predictable scenario is incorrect, false, distant, unrealistic?

 Prakash M. Salimath, Director of Research, University of Agricultural Science (UAS), Dharwad, who is heading a team of scientists which has developed pest-resistant brinjals: 30-50 chemical sprays are applied to control FSB, but Bt requires only 3 to 4. No shoot infestation in Bt varieties cultivated by UAS. Over 95% of Bt brinjal found marketable compared to 30-45 % in non-Bt varieties.

 Prof. G K Veeresh, former VC of USA, Bangalore and president of the Association for Promoting Organic Farming: No farmer, consumer or government had expressed problem in managing brinjal crop. Bt technology is effective only against the borer, while brinjal has many more pests. India has varieties of brinjal. Once Bt variety is introduced, the local varieties may be wiped out (Please read the following human interest story on Udupi Mattu Gulla).

 Mohan Bhagwat, RSS Supremo: India which has been facing the menace of   infiltration of terrorists now faces the threat to its traditional seed bank due to the entry of foreign products like Bt brinjal. The country had more than 10,000 varieties which had been harvested by farmers. Over the years, more than 6,000 varieties of seeds have been stolen from our land. The remaining varieties now face the same threat.

 The subject is open to many views. What are yours? Over to you.

 Brinjal’s Divine Angle

(ND Shiv Kumar, writing in The Times of India (8-2-10) under the title Its Impact on Lord Krishna, puts the subject in another perspective.)

 Bt brinjal affects Udupi Lord Krishna too. He has been savouring Mattu Gulla, a unique variety, for the past four centuries. Grown only in Udupi district, this variety is cherished for its taste, flavour and fewer seeds. “There are cultural and religious aspects too. What do we offer to LordKrishna of Udupi, if our native brinjal is genetically modified?”, asked State’s Organic Farming Mission’s chairman AS Anand.

 The legend reflects the traditional belief of the Madhwa community, followers of Vaisnavite saint Sri Madhawacharya, who established eight Mutts in Udupi. In the 16^th century, Sode Mutt pontiff Vadiraja Swamy would offer ‘Hayagreeva’ (offering) to the golden idol of Lord Hayavardana, who’d eat it by assuming the form of a horse and leave some behind for Vadiraja. Some people doubted this. One day, they poisoned the hayagreeva which the lord ate. As he didn’t leave the prasadam, it puzzled Vadiraja. The lord explained the incident and said the poison would make his golden idol turn blue.

 He asked Vadiraja to offer a preparation made from a special type of brinjal – gulla. Vadiraja instructed the people of Mattu (hence the name Mattu Gulla) to cultivate gulla. Once it was offered, the lord’s idol regained its original golden color. However, a blue mark remained on the neck as a reminder. This golden idol of Lord Hayavardana with the blue mark is worshipped at the Sode Mutt in Udupi. On the paryaya (ascension to Krishna Mutt as mutt head which happens once in two years) the tradition of offering Mattu Gulla to Lord Krishna continues.

 Tenali Rama Connection

Sri Krisnadevaraya, the Vijayanagara emperor, had superior quality brinjal in his private garden, but no one was allowed there. Tenali Rama (the famed courtier), who tasted it, couldn’t stop singing its praises to his wife who yearned to eat it. He stole a few brinjals and his wife wanted her 6-year-old son to taste it. Rama thought of a way to avoid being caught. He poured water on his son, who was sleeping on the terrace and took him inside, saying it was raining. The child tasted the brinjal.

 The king came to know of the theft. A minister, Appaji, suspected only Tenali Rama was capable of it. He told the king about it, who decided to trap Rama through his son. The child revealed he’d eaten the brinjal the previous night.

 Rama stood his ground and said his son must have dreamt of eating it. To prove this, he told Appaji to ask the boy if it had rained the previous night. The child said it rained so heavily that all his clothes were wet. Appaji apologised to Rama for suspecting him.

Today’s Highlight

Free Medicare

There is no free lunch in the hospital if one is treated free and no compensation is due on account of medical negligence –as explained in “No Negligence in Free Medicare?”

 Bob’s Banter

Rahul on Train!

Bob’s has his take on the recent ride of Rahul Gandhi in Mumbai’s suburban train in “Platform 5..!” 

For more insightful articles by Bob, hit his website – www.bobsbanter.com

CocktailPlaza

Also have a look at our trivia/sublime, random quotes, Indiana and recycled humour in this section – as and when we schedule them afresh – or in the archives.

The Laughter CD is on the website for you to view/ download.

The CD on laughter is loaded in the archives of this website for free downloading and use. Alert your friends who may be interested.

 Stay with us and help us to grow!

- John B. Monteiro

No Negligence in Free Medicare?

By John B. Monteiro

 Better to hunt in fields for health unbought,

Than face this doctor for a nauseous draught.

The wise for cure on exercise depend;

God never made his work for men to mend.

 - John Dryden, English poet (1631-1700).

 In the last posting on this site, we discussed how doctors have become extra-cautious in handling patients so as not to risk damaging medical negligence litigation. The potential conflict environment between doctors and patients has benefited third parties. In USA, we have what are called ambulance-chasing lawyers. Here also we have medical litigation lawyers who prod the bereaved relatives of the dead (in hospital) to trod the litigation route. Amidst the eroding doctor-patient relationship, the insurance sector has emerged a clear winner. Almost 3,000 doctors of the 6,000 medical consultants registered with the Association of Medical Consultants are covered under Professional Indemnity Insurance. The rest of those practicing in vulnerable branches of medicine, like gynaecology, orthopedics and cosmetology, have personal cover. However, if one has to avoid litigation for medical negligence, there is a safety valve in the form of free treatment – for medical negligence doesn’t apply to free treatment. But, first the facts. 

 The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission recently ruled that a person alleging medical negligence was not liable to get any compensation under the Consumer Protection Act if the treatment was carried out free-of-cost at a public hospital.

In 1997, the complainant, Sudhakar Shetty, a Mumbai resident, sought treatment from the city’s KEM (King Edward Memorial – as many would not know the original full name) Hospital after his family doctor diagnosed that gangrene was setting in his left big toe because of shoe-bite. Shetty claimed that at KEM, after doctors amputated his left big toe, swelling and pain in his left leg increased considerably. Five days later, the doctors, after examining him, concluded that the gangrene has spread to his knee and that the left leg would have to be amputated from below the knee. Shetty got himself admitted to a private hospital for the amputation.

 In his complaint filed in 1999, Shetty said that he lost use of his left leg because of negligence of doctors at KEM. He maintained that he had incurred expenses of Rs. 65,000 and lost five months’ salary amounting to Rs. 40,000. He blamed the doctors for deficiency of service and demanded Rs.1.1 million as compensation. Countering the charges, the KEM doctor argued that the complaint be dismissed as the patient was treated free-of-cost during his stay in the hospital and hence he was not a consumer.

 Upholding the doctor’s argument, the Commission ruled that that the complainant did not fall under the definition of consumer under Section 2(1) (d) (ii) of Consumer Protection Act. It noted that Shetty had not produced any bill from KEM to show that he had paid for the treatment. The Commission also rejected the complaint on various other grounds. “Medical negligence on the part of the hospital or its doctors requires to be proved by the person who alleges But the complainant has nor adduced any evidence in terms of affidavit of expert from the field…They (KEM) had taken good post-operative care and there was no negligence in treating the complainant. Had he continued treatment at KEM, he would have recovered fully. But against medical advice, he took discharge from KEM and approached another hospital where his condition deteriorated and he had to lose his left leg.” The KEM doctors also claimed that Shetty had suppressed the fact that he was a patient of chronic uncontrolled diabetes and was alcoholic at the time he was admitted to KEM.

 The subject is open to many views. What are yours? Over to you.

“..This is the first time I have seen such a big man at Platform 5…”

Shoeshine Boy, Andheri Station.

Platform 5!

It’s like any other platform anywhere in the country: Stains of betel nut juice dribbling down broken, cracked cement to even more cracked edges of platform, then spilling down to deadly track below, stray dogs sleeping, stray dogs begging, one paw lifted, the other lost in accident or dog fight, commuters looking at indicator, commuters staring worriedly, waiting for expected train, stall owners washing glasses, cleaning dirtied plastic plates with left over pav bhaji, then pouring remains of left over pav bhaji onto same platform.

Platform 5: It’s like any other platform in the country, or is it?

I’ve been on it, taken fast train from it, trying to save precious minutes by pushing, shoving, hoping to get a toehold onto doorway of compartment of the Virar Fast that rushes onto platform, spilling out a mass of human swill, taking in same mass, leaving out the weak, throwing out the frail, because if you’re not able bodied, if you’re not strong, you don’t get onto the train from Platform 5!

The fainthearted, the weak get into slow trains from 2 and 3 and 6. 

I marvel to think Rahul Gandhi managed.

I agree with skeptics who say it was past rush hour, I nod at those who say he had his bodyguards, but even at 1pm when train rushed onto platform, when motorman had no idea Rahul was going to board the train, nor given any signal to enter platform slower, to wait a little longer, to start a little slower, it was risk he took boarding from there.

Six million people travel by train everyday in this the financial capital of the country, six million packed like sardines, breathing stale air, stamping fellow passenger’s feet, finding their own crushed, battered, mutilated when they are spat out at some station miles away. Six million who wonder when someone will feel and understand what they go through day after day.

Like I said, I agree with skeptics who say it was past rush hour, I nod at those who say he had his body guards, but I know and I know now for sure that anybody who has the will, and the determination to find out what the common man lives through daily, to know his struggle, smell stale sweat of tired human flesh, then that person has his heart in the right place.

Many may call it a publicity stunt, I don’t, I know Platform 5, even a stunt artist would think twice getting onto a train from there, Rahul didn’t.

And like the shoeshine boy said with awe, “This is the first time I saw such a big man at Platform 5.”

Big Man Indeed..!

Today’s Highlight

Defensive Doctors

In the face of increasing litigation due to allegations of medical negligence, doctors have become extra-cautious as noted in “Are Doctors Defensive?”

 Bob’s Banter

Prized Internet

Bob’s has his take on the recent report that internet is being considered for the Nobel prize in “And the prize goes to…!” 

For more insightful articles by Bob, hit his website – www.bobsbanter.com

CocktailPlaza

Also have a look at our trivia/sublime, random quotes, Indiana and recycled humour in this section – as and when we schedule them afresh – or in the archives.

The Laughter CD is on the website for you to view/ download.

The CD on laughter is loaded in the archives of this website for free downloading and use. Alert your friends who may be interested.

 Stay with us and help us to grow!

- John B. Monteiro

Are Doctors Defensive?

By John B. Monteiro

This is the way that physicians mend or end us,

Secundum artem: but though we sneer

In health – when ill, we call them to attend us,

Without the least propensity to jeer.

 - George Gordon Noel Byron, English poet (1788- 1824).

 Physicians, of all men, are most happy: Whatever good success soever they have, the world proclaimeth and what faults they commit, the earth covereth. – Francis Quarles, English poet (1592-1644).

 Centuries since the above lines were penned, the situation of physicians, or doctors, has seen a sea-change. Instead of sneering, doctors are being snared. The earth does not cover their faults in a hurry. There is post mortem and causes of death can be laid at the door of doctors, with hefty claims of compensation and threats of physical violence. Thus, doctors, today, resort to, instead of curative practice, defensive practice. In the process, some patients are passed on to public hospitals to avoid risk of being hauled up for medical negligence and stiff compensation claims. This scenario is vitiating the traditional role and image of doctors as angels of healing. But, first the facts.

 In an exclusive report in The Times of India titled Defensive Medicine on the Rise in Mumbai, Sumitra Deb Roy notes that  “pre-surgery forms, battery of tests…doctors grow cautious as more negligence suits are filed.” He cites the case of urologist Dr. Hemendra Shah, and his wife Rashmi, who were sued for alleged medical negligence in 2008, 20 months after the patient they had operated on for kidney stones died in a Mumbai hospital. It came as a bolt from the blue for the Shahs when the police came knocking at their door to book them for causing death by negligence. Dr. Hemendra said: “Our statements were recorded by the police. We had to sit and recollect every detail and convey all this to the police.” After the initial shock, anguish and stress, the Shahs have moved on. Their first appearance in court is yet to come.

 Many doctors in Mumbai, like the Shahs, have become extra-cautious on the job to avoid litigations which have become a professional hazard. Over the last few years, there has been an annual rise of 10 t0 15 % in litigation against doctors in Mumbai – which is pushing the medical fraternity back to the wall. 2009 saw more than 200 cases in Mumbai in which doctors were accused of negligence and dragged to court, with some even being physically roughed up. In the backdrop of such risks, doctors are now going the way of the West by documenting every step of treatment offered. In certain clinics, the pre-surgery consent form runs up to five to ten pages.

 Dr. Lalit Kapoor, adviser to the medico-legal cell of the Association of Medical Consultants, said: ‘The situation is quite alarming as patients are not accepting fatality. Almost every death in a hospital bed tends to get labeled as medical negligence…Doctors have become mistrustful of patients and are apprehensive of going that extra mile to save a life as they fear a backlash. But, most threatening now is physical violence.” Another doctor said: “Threats from patients and pressure from local politicians have become the rule and not exception. Litigation is one f the main reasons why critical cases invariably get referred to public hospitals – as doctors are scared to treat them.” Another aspect of defensive medicine involves doctors and hospitals asking for a minimum of 15 to 20 tests even for minor ailments. Who stands to loose in terms of delayed treatment and expensive battery of tests?

 The subject is open to many views. What are yours? Over to you.

“..Internet nominated for Nobel Peace Prize..” TOI, Feb 5^th

I look out of my window and see my car looking a bit disgruntled, so does the bus down the road and newspaper in my hand. “Hey!” I yell, “Why so many unhappy people today?”

“Why haven’t we been nominated for the Nobel Prize?” they shout together in a deafening roar as I close my ears but get soundly whacked by the newspaper in my hand. “Why just the Internet, why not us?”

“The Internet helped us share information like never before!” I whisper.

“Okay!” says my car, “You can walk from now on!”

“Walk?” I gasp.

“Yep, why didn’t anyone ever think of nominating me for bridging distances like never before?”

“Or me?” shouts the bus outside.

“Or me?” shouts the newspaper in my hand, “For sharing news like never before?”

“What’s this sudden fascination for the internet?” they all shout together and I close my ears again to the deafening roar but get soundly whacked by the newspaper in my hand. “I’ll find out!” I promise them.

I look in the direction of Sweden where the Nobel committee must be meeting, “Why the Internet?” I whisper.

“Why not?” say the committee looking up at me.

“Well,” I tell them as the newspaper whacks me hard, “What about the newspaper, my car, the bus on the road?”

“They were all invented years ago!”

“But why didn’t they get the prize then?”

“Because there were people those days who we could give the prize to, in fact so many that your Gandhi himself didn’t get it!”

“Aren’t there any people now?”

I hear the committee shift in their seats somewhere in Sweden where they must be sitting to discuss the prize, “Look around you, can you see anyone deserving?”

“And,” says another committee member, as the others look at him, “After giving it to Obama last year, we’re really scared! After he got the Peace Prize he started sending more troops to Afghanistan and Iraq!”

“So we decided to nominate an inanimate body, not a human being this time!”

I switch on the computer and find a virus attacking my hard disk. “How did you get here?” I cry out in anguish.

“Through me!” smiles the Internet.

“And you haven’t yet won the Peace prize..!” I whisper.