Presently, we are seeing a lot of advertisements in Medical field which may be of hospital, doctor medicines or any other which may directly or indirectly related to public health. Whose duty is to make a check on these advertisements, is it the Medical Council, Health Ministry, IMA or any other association. No one seems to be bothered about these advertisements which are unethical & proving fatal for the health of the people.

Medical Council has given the guidelines for Advertisement in Chapter 6 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, which are reproduced as under:-

“6. UNETHICAL ACTS :

A physician shall not aid or abet or commit any of the following acts which shall be construed as unethical -

6.1 Advertising:

6.1.1 Soliciting of patients directly or indirectly, by a physician, by a group of physicians or by institutions or organisations is unethical. A physician shall not make use of him / her (or his / her name) as subject of any form or manner of advertising or publicity through any mode either alone or in conjunction with others which is of such a character as to invite attention to him or to his professional position, skill, qualification, achievements, attainments, specialities, appointments, associations, affiliations or honours and/or of such character as would ordinarily result in his self aggrandizement. A physician shall not give to any person, whether for compensation or otherwise, any approval, recommendation, endorsement, certificate, report or statement with respect of any drug, medicine, nostrum remedy, surgical, or therapeutic article, apparatus or appliance or any commercial product or article with respect of any property, quality or use thereof or any test, demonstration or trial thereof, for use in connection with his name, signature, or photograph in any form or manner of advertising through any mode nor shall he boast of cases, operations, cures or remedies or permit the publication of report thereof through any mode. A medical practitioner is however permitted to make a formal announcement in press regarding the following:

1. On starting practice.
2. On change of type of practice.
3. On changing address.
4. On temporary absence from duty.
5. On resumption of another practice.
6. On succeeding to another practice.
7. Public declaration of charges.

6.1.2 Printing of self photograph, or any such material of publicity in the letter head or on sign board of the consulting room or any such clinical establishment shall be regarded as acts of self advertisement and unethical conduct on the part of the physician. However, printing of sketches, diagrams, picture of human system shall not be treated as unethical.”

But, it is not making any check on Doctors, Hospitals or any other who are violating these guidelines. In a reply received from Medical Council under Right To Information Act, 2005, it has not filled even a single case against anyone on unethical advertisement in the entire year. This clearly proves the saying “Rules are made to be broken”. Then, I tried to find out the reason, why even a single case was not registered against unethical advertisements. I wrote a letter to Grievance Cell, MCI who forwarded the matter to Ethical Committee of the Council. After the meeting of the Ethical Committee of the Council, it was directed to me that “Any complaint against any individual/institution as per Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 is considered on individual basis on their merit after the receipt of the specific complaint on prescribed format with requisite fess etc.” The requisite fees is Rs. 5000/ along with Rs. 50/ stamp paper duly attested by Notary Public. I again wrote to Secretary MCI for seeking relief of fees for making complaint in larger public interest for protection of Health of people of Republic of India as my complaint was not against any individual doctor/institution but against everyone who are following these unethical practices which was again rejected.

Till when, we will let this happen. We all being medicos should be aware of the ethical guidelines & help in awareness of others also. I request everyone who is following these type of unethical practices to quit immediately & advice others also as everyone is not aware of these guidelines. I request everyone to take the proper action immediately for a Healthy India. Request the doctor/Institution who are violating these guidelines to quit immediately. There is no use to write to MCI or other authorities again & again, they are just dumb people who cannot do anything so every one of us should take the initiative ourselves only.

I, myself has asked many to remove the advertisement & they have done it. So, it’s my humble request to all of you to become a responsible doctor & help in making a Healthy India

ICMR has released the detailed guidelines for submitting project report of STS 2011. The STS report must be submitted ONLINE by the student directly to the Council. The ONLINE facility to submit the STS report will be available from 1st August, 2011 to 15th September, 2011 only. 15th September, 2011 is the last cutoff date for report submission. The attestation form & other details regarding report writing can be downloaded from http://icmr.nic.in/shortr.htm

For queries send an email at sts.icmr@gmail.com and please quote the Reference ID in all your e-mail correspondence for quick reference.

Best of Luck to all who are selected for STS 2011.

The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen’s ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body  that would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year and envisages trial in the case getting over in the next one year.
Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Bill envisages a system where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without government permission.
Retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi and other known people like Swami Agnivesh, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Anna Hazare and Mallika Sarabhai are also part of the movement, called India Against Corruption. Its website describes the movement as "an expression of collective anger of people of India against corruption. We have all come together to force/request/persuade/pressurize the Government to enact the Jan Lokpal Bill. We feel that if this Bill were enacted it would create an effective deterrence against corruption."

• Anna Hazare, anti-corruption crusader, began a fast-unto-death today, demanding that this bill, drafted by the civil society, be adopted. The website of the India Against Corruption movement calls the Lokpal Bill of the government an "eyewash" and has on it a critique of that government Bill. It also lists the difference between the Bills drafted by the government and civil society.
  
• A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:
  
  1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up
  2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.
  3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.
  4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.
  5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.
  6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month’s time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.
  7. But won’t the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won’t be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.
  8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.
  9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.
  10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/what-is-the-jan-lokpal-bill-why-its-important-96600?cp

“I must try Meat one day”, these words were uttered by my friend some days back & I had a hot discussion with her for a long time. Why meat & fish, have we again entered into the ice age when no vegetables & fruits are available on this Mother Earth. Are we only left with animals & humans to suffice the need of our stomach. I think, our mother Earth can still fulfill the hunger of everyone on this Earth. There is no need to kill anyone who can be a mother, father, brother or sister; it doesn’t matter if that person is a human or an animal. When the Earth evolved, human being was vegetarian, but as the time advanced, he started dominating the World, he wanted to control everyone under him so he started killing animals. This habit slowly transformed into eating them.

The present century has seen many changes. Now when the man has already reached Moon & is already dominating everyone on this Earth is still killing animals. But the reason now has changed to taste & try as my friend said. She also insisted that for the proper food chain, man needs to eat them without realizing that Man is just a accidental link in that food chain. There are other animals, who are maintaining this food chain of the ecosystem. There is no need of the man to interfere in this food chain. Man has his own & he is not authorized by almighty to disturb anyone else’s.

“Ahimsa Parmo Dharm”. These wonderful words by Lord Mahavira carry a deep meaning within them. It means Ahimsa (Nonviolence) is the first religion. No religion comes above it. Hindus & Buddhists preachers also teached the same principle to their disciples. Mahatama Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekanad, APJ Abdul Kalam, Pamela Andersdon, Amitabh Bachan & various others also supported vegetarianism. We should not injure any other living being for our benefit

When she saw that I am not controlling myself, then she shot her last arrow, which is the reason most non vegetarian thinks they eat for being more healthy & beneficial for the body.

I again had a answer to this & that too in the medical terms. In the past, many viewed vegetarianism as strange & faddish but a vast research shows that vegetarian diet is much healthier than a typical meat eater. Many Medical Associations of the World has also came up for the promotion of vegetarianism in the society.

British Medical Association says: "A vegetarian diet confers a wide range of health benefits. Research has proven that vegetarians suffer less from many of the diseases linked to a modern Western diet: obesity, coronary heart disease, hypertension, type II diabetes, diet-related cancers, diverticular disease, constipation and gall stones."

The American Dietetic Association: "Scientific data suggest positive relationships between a vegetarian diet and reduced risk for several chronic degenerative diseases and conditions, including obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and some types of cancer. Vegetarian diets, like all diets, need to be planned appropriately to be nutritionally adequate.”

There are numerous benefits of vegetarianism:

1. Meat have known to contain higher level of fats & cholesterol which is a leading cause of various health problems including obesity & heart diseases which are major cause of mortality in present generation. This high level of cholesterol block the arteries & fat tend to accumulate in adipose tissue leading to obesity. While a large scientific literature suggests that the consumption of a diet of whole grain, legumes, vegetables, nuts & fruits with avoidance of meat & high fat animal products along with regular exercise is consistently associated with lower blood cholesterol, lower blood pressure, less obesity & consequently less disease. It also helps in preventing & treating other chronic diseases.

2. Promotes aging- Meat carries more waste & therefore the resource necessary to rejuvenate the cells are consumed on cleaning up waste left by meat in body system, hence the cells break down & eventually wear out while vegetables contains antioxidants.

3. In 1997, World Cancer Research Foundation suggested that method of preparing meat (such as grilling, curing & smoking) produces polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons & heterocyclic amines which are carcinogenic. More than 200 studies revealed that regular consumption of fruits & vegetables like beans, whole grains, umbliferous vegetables which contain host of cancer protective phytochemicals like carotenoids, flavenoids, isothiocynates, isoflavones, ellagic acid, lignans, phenolic acid etc provides significant protection against cancer at many sites especially epithelial cancer. They alter the metabolic pathway & thus stimulating the immune syatem. These enzyme also inhibit tumor growth factor, lower blood cholesterol & decrease the risk of blood clots & diminish bone loss.

4. Non veg diet is always costlier than then the veg diet. it is also costlier in terms of medical cost. An estimated $30-60 billion is involved every year as total medical cost in US attributable to meat consumption based on higher prevalence of disease amongst them.

5. Veg diet contains high fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, Vit C & E & phytochemicals. They tend to have lower BMI, less Type 2 DM, renal diseases, osteoporosis & dementia. Protein content in vegetarians is slightly lower than meat diets but can meet requirement of any person including athletes & body builder. This is somehow beneficial also. Our body even in the healthy state can absorb a maximum of 85% of contained proteins from veg diet. Protein in non veg diet is high which is not absorbed, so no use of taking extra proteins & above all it puts the extra burden on kidneys to remove nitrogenous products.

Vegetarian diet helps in more peaceful state of mind & body. When you have a positive outlook physically & mentally, then you become a holistic & healthy individual. We as doctors & medical students should understand this. In a study published in Journal of American Diet Association, prevalence of vegetarianism was higher among US medical students than among other US adults. Medical students & physicians with healthful personal practices are more likely to encourage such behavior in their patients.

So I will end here by saying some worthy words by Lord Mahavira “Jiyo aur Jine Do” meaning Live & Let Live. We should live happily & let others also live happily without hurting them in any way. We should follow the practice of vegetarianism in our diet. I hope she will get the answer now for all her questions why vegetarianism is better.