Police uncover large scale organ trafficking in Punjab
BMJ 2003; 326 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.326.7382.180/b (Published 25 January 2003) Cite this as: BMJ 2003;326:180All rapid responses
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The NEWS article "Police uncover large scale organ trafficking in
Punjab" by Sanjay Kumar ( BMJ 2003; 326: 180 ) provides that intermittent
shock the medical community needs to get up from slumber and makes it
evident that it is time to act. All things considered , I would like to
highlight one aspect of the Indian medical education system that might be
the cause of this pathology.
I am a medical student right now. I was admitted to my medical
college because I had managed to be in a particular list; a list which is
drawn up on the basis of the performance in an examination where students
are assessed for knowledge in Biology , Chemistry and Physics. Apart from
managing to do reasonably well enough to figure in that list , none of us
had any other reason to qualify. A profession with the burden of ethics as
heavy as what medicine demands , is taking in students every year based on
nothing that measures aptitude for studying medicine , basic human
compassion etc. In India , there is this professional courses entrance
exam "season" when the "aspirants" queue up in lakhs to sit for
examinations which will take them through the golden gates of medical and
engineering colleges.The sheer number of "aspirants" is mind-boggling and
is but a simple reflection of the socio-economic insecurity to which these
professions will provide solutions for the lucky few. So they study their
chemistry and sharpen their pencils for the examination. Some win , some
dont but the basic philosophy of care and compassion loses out anyways.
I have known many and there exist so many " medical " students who had
cleared both the engineering and medical entrance exams and were not sure
what to take up. This is reflective of absence of zeal or passion or for
that matter anything for the subject or the profession. What is nearly
universal is the idea that the degree in medicine is a passport to good
life.Its all about money-the profession is just the means to get there.
So what needs to be done ? I propose a revamp of the medical entrance
system . For the time being , replacement of the farcical pre-admission
counselling by an interatcive aptitude identification programme.There
should be active interventions to promote medical ethics and stressing of
the same in all disciplines, not just as a part of Forensic and State
Medicine curriculum, as is done now.
The Punjab organ trafficking scandal has important lessons for the
medical community. Let us pick them in right earnest before we get another
jolt at the expense of more victims of this obscene lust by "doctors".
Thanking you
Garga Chatterjee
Medical College , Calcutta
University of Calcutta,
88 College street,
Kolkata (Calcutta)
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
sooner or later it had to come out. there is a large numbers of
criminals engaged in this nefarious trade. doctors are up to their necks
in this. something urgent needs to be done. but in india there is only
passive response. the recepients are high and mighty and so nothing will
come out of it i fear.the criminals meaning the law makers and doctors
will go scot free. it is a matter of time only. what is discovered is the
tip of iceberg.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: trade in human organs
As a doctor trained upto postgraduate level in India, I am shaken but
not amazed at the level of criminality in medically qualified individuals,
this time exposed in northern India. This is, however, a product of a
much wider decay of morals among doctors , accelerated and abetted by the
socio-economic anarchy which has befallen India (and many other poorer
countries) since the late 1980s, when the Indian ruling elite started
adopting the programme of "liberalisation" to entice foreign investment,
playing to the tunes of "structural adjustment".
In brief, the way I think "structural adjustment" is responsible for
this thriving criminality is that the private sector hospitals have become
absolutely essential in providing healthcare and pressures by the "masters
of free market" in Washington and elsewhere have weakened state regulation
in the interest of "good investment climate"...The disgusting facts about
trade in human organs in Punjab only represent what the "free world"
actually looks like outside the foyers of five star hotels in capital
cities....Leaders of the "free world" and "liberators" of Iraq better look
away...
Competing interests:
Belief in global justice and integrity of the medical profession
Competing interests: No competing interests