Of health, doctors, and trust

Imagine your child in pain. Imagine the tears from his eyes, the horrified look from his face, his shaking limbs, his cold hands, his subdued cry. What would you do if the doctor gave you two choices: either give him a local anesthesia where he will suffer a lot or give him general anesthesia where he will sleep away his pain into the midst of oblivion?

A father will not even think, not for a blink of an eye to allow suffering for his child; nor does a mother. This is not a hypothetical scenario. I have experienced this and the first thing that crossed my mind was ‘yes give him general anesthesia’. Without thinking the cost of care in the hospital I chose the least amount of suffering for my first born. But then common sense and medical background got hold of me. Why on earth would I pay 30 thousand pesos for a cut in my son’s finger? My own father jested after the whole hospital ordeal that in his days his own father would have just put coffee on his wound. Of course caffeine as a vasoconstrictor would have stopped minor bleedings.

The fact is, not anyone will allow suffering for a loved one, parents to their children, a husband to his wife, a wife to her husband, a friend to a friend.

Unfortunately scrupulous individuals take advantage on other people preying on their emotion and ignorance. Another good story is about a couple having their first child and the time of delivery is around the corner. Once the Obstetrician learned that their relatives are in abroad, she convincingly managed to persuade the couple to go for a caesarian delivery because the baby is ‘under stress’. But when she knew that the couple was casted away by the parents and wouldn’t get any financial support, suddenly another option magically appeared: induced labor.

Things like this make us think: how honest are our doctors? Should we unconditionally trust them? If we are in a place where there is no third party system to countercheck the need of such procedures, what are we to do?

In my opinion, trusty worthy and qualified Muslim doctors should come into the picture to give a second opinion. They should readily give their advice – they may even be compensated - in order to save people from unnecessary paying heavily for an already prohibitive health care cost.

Finally, fund raising activities that intend to help financially- challenged patients and their families should be commended and supported, but it should also include a ‘second opinion’ option as an important part of their endeavor.