Sick Business: The Truth Behind Healthcare in India

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95 per cent of healthcare facilities have less than five workers

30 million people are pushed into poverty by healthcare costs

9 lakh C-sections are preventable

7.04 lakh children under the age of five die of pneumonia and diarrhoea every year

For Dr Sumanth C. Raman, the numbers don’t lie. Decades of witnessing the inner workings of India’s healthcare industry first-hand have given him ample reason to question and challenge it.

In Sick Business, through personal accounts of patients, interviews with doctors and other medical professionals, and numerous reports, he unveils a chilling portrait of a healthcare system marred by vested interests, shady research, lax State intent, questionable ethics and general disarray. Overburdened public hospitals, expensive private healthcare, a rampant culture of quacks, the nexus between big pharma and doctors, a silent epidemic of surgeries and over-diagnosis-the book deals with such burning topics and more as it uncovers the truth behind the pristine façade of hospitals and the doctors who work within.

Sick Business is a clarion call for reform and change. A gripping expose, in the end the book equips you with some real answers and the tough questions you need to ask when your family’s health-and perhaps your own-is at stake.

From the Publisher

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins India (18 April 2024)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 935699725X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9356997257
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 230 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.69 cm
Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ India

Reviewer: Rishi Dev Ratho
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An honest Work
Review: Kudos to the Author as he really brings out the practical and honest viewpoint of the medical profession.A noble profession that everyone takes for granted, especially in the Indian condition & environment.

Reviewer: Ramalingam
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Super Introductory text to Indian HC to Patients & HC Professionals!
Review: Like every field, Medicine has also undergone a lot of changes esp. in India with its highly skewed Doctor: Patient ratio; Just about One lakh MBBS seats per year & cost + quality of education in private institutions (account for 48% seats); clamour & need for PG which is 42K seats / year across all areas of specialisations; Medical infrastructure gap in Rural areas etc. Dr. Sumath Raman is a well known public figure in South India as a Dr., Sports Quiz anchor and Political Analyst. That makes it a wide spectrum and this book also, as a fine, introductory read on Indian Healthcare space. Having closely seen functioning of hosp. for 2+ years and some great medical practitioners, I can share we all want a neat reference esp. at the beginning of episodes / major treatments. At the same time, availability of the Doctor – they are human too and work long hours + without doubt are a boon to the society!, we are also looking for options of Hospitalized treatments vs periodic visits. This is where medical insurance though I have missed claiming it most times :-(. My personal experience is a number of very experienced Life style Doctors associate themselves with a large hospital (30-40%) but do a larger private practice. They take a different diagnostic & treatment approach while those dealing in Cardiology take a different approach. This could also be due to fewer doctors, immediate attention reqd., and cost & duration. Dr. Sumanth Raman has given a birds eye view on many areas in Healthcare from Insurance to Commissions to needless Tests to Technologies in HC to Generic Medicine… A must read for budding Healthcare Professionals and all of us who will be patients or care giver one day!* A Doctor’s life: Long shifts and naps in between; paltry salary in the early days of practice though they can reap rewards much beyond 60 years… But their days can also be emotionally sapping dealing with patients pains or even death every other day. Hence, their Mental strength is equally important to us. * Violence against Doctors: This is the sad part. Like in our democracy, we have low entry barriers both in education and hospital standards but expect top class outcomes each time. Over the last two decades, liability for neglignece has increased on Doctors, hence more than reqd. diagnosis in many cases + cross functional tram of doctors etc. increasing cost of care. Violence against Medical Practitioners is a No-No. * Choosing a Good Doctor: based on qualification esp. GP vs Specialist needs; attached to an hospital; been practising for a few years etc. * Doctors – Pharma company Nexus: While Pharma companies would like to introduce new medications and methods of treatments, sponsoring trips or giving commisions on prescriptions should be made illegal and frowned upon within their own community. While hospitals are becoming corporatised, target based approach for depts. & Doctors don’t add to patient comfort.* Internet Knowledge on Treatments: While Doctors are continuous learning creatures along with new technology in most cases, we as patients and care givers should be sensitive to 20% or rare situations blah-blah which make them defensive as well as increase patient time. * Ethical use of Data: This is getting better but tje extent of problem is more because most hospitals do not have a good Patient Mgmt System except for a billing system. We cannot take data across even large hospitals when needed except in files or CDs. As we do more trials, capture more data about patients, diagnoatic records etc., technologies like Block chain, compressed data with high quality images, inter-operability for patient records will become even more important. * Hospital Administration is super key these days wrt disposal, operating key instrastructure, Nursing staff shifts (It is true thatbNurses make a Doctors life easier and effective prescriptions along with making hospital stays much less inconvenience to patients & family.), patient visits / queues and records. * He gives a personal example of how for his Appendectomy, the Govt. Insurer paid only about 30% of the bill and how it took 6 months + Ombudsman level review, to get an additional 35%. There are a lot of fine prints, which we dont look into wrt Insurance. * One of the important area of progress that Western countries made few years ago were in Nurse practitioners and Pharmacist Prescribers. People like Dr. Sumanth Raman could look at how such an ecosystem could develop into in our context. The author shares a similar example from Aravind Eye Hospital. * An ideal Hospital, is a Non-profit with paid salaries for Nurses and Doctors; it charges patients on cost+ Test & Procedures model and offers medicines at the same discounted price & not on MRP etc. I would personally love to this work becoming an ongoing, online work by the author as it very important for the society.

Reviewer: kaushik
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Medical mafia
Review: It’s is an eye-opening expose that delves into the unsettling practices of the pharmaceutical industry and their impact on healthcare

4.5

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