There is tremendous competition among a few political parties in Maharashtra to consolidate their position in the state by being in the news to impress the electorate at large. But the methods they have adopted are damaging to the state and the country.

A case in point is that of the incident involving the death of a woman who was denied admission at the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Research Centre in Pune.

Political parties came out on the streets to protest against the alleged mishandling of the case by the hospital, which led to the woman’s death, in the absence of timely treatment, soon after she delivered twins.

One can understand that some of the protestors might be genuinely disturbed by the incident and they or their near and dear ones must have been victims of financial exploitation by hospitals. It is common knowledge that most private hospitals are now money-making organisations, where doctors are treated like members of sales teams in companies manufacturing consumer goods and the teams are given monthly targets.

The hospitals have a fixed pattern, as if it is part of the medical training. The hospital staff is delighted if the patient has medical insurance; that helps the hospital to inflate the bills by making the patient go through tests, some of which are not even necessary.

The medical and paramedical staff are trained to scare the patient’s........

© Free Press Journal