Dismissing Ayurveda as jugaad and quackery is the worst kind of disinformation campaign against one of the ancient indigenous forms of healthcare systems.
IMA calls for nationwide protest Tuesday against govt attempt at ‘legitimising mixopathy’. Ayurveda doctors say postgraduates in their field are well-trained for surgeries.
Senior doctors of NDMC-run hospitals went on a day-long casual leave en masse Monday as the crisis over pending salaries deepened with no resolution in sight.
Questioning the health minister’s move to promote alternative medicines for Covid patients, IMA says he is ‘inflicting a fraud on nation & gullible patients by calling placebos as drugs’.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Indian Medical Association has asked for an 'inclusive national solatium' to ensure justice to the families of doctors dying on the Covid frontline.
IMA general secretary R.V. Asokan has told ThePrint that it had written to PM Modi 2 weeks ago about the fatalities among doctors but is yet to receive a response.
The IMA's plea comes a day after relatives of a 55-year-old Covid-19 patient in Karnataka's Belagavi set on fire an ambulance, alleging medical negligence.
With 20.2 percent of its total loans in default by the end of last year, Bangladesh had the weakest banking system in Asia. Despite reforms, it will take time to recover.
This world is being restructured and redrawn by one man, and what’s his power? It’s not his formidable military. It’s trade. With China, it turned on him.
Why doesn’t Mr Seshadri put his money where his mouth is and only get treated by Ayurvedic practitioners, including surgeons? It has become fashionable for these buffoons to cast aspersions on anyone who questions the decisions of the government, no matter what the expertise of the dissident might be, whether it is farmers or doctors. Shekhar Gupta has already misled the public with his clutter on the farm bills. Inviting this fool on his platform is adding to the insult.
I am not a doctor but I am of the understanding some of these surgeries wer already being practiced by ayurvedic surgeons.
This notification has made it legal to practise a list of surgeries.
Is there anywhere I can find the number of surgeries conducted in ayurveda per year, types of surgeries and the success rates? Do the already conducted surgeries (before the notification) use allopathic drugs before, during and after the surgery?
Just few months ago….it was this countrie’s people who were like lunatics beating their utensils in name of honoring doctors…praying them…and now all of sudden they are nothing but mere businessmen only concerned for monetary benefits…why not…bjp kills democracy with hypocrisy and you media do the same ..make gods or devils as per your convenience….as far as this matter is concerned…the surgeries that have been mentioned are the ones which have with years of knowledge improved and improvements were done with the help of researches to decrease complications…now the question is just based on the fact that ayurved was the origin of it…will not be enough to increase complication rates that have been decreased so far with years…they will increase with the use of primitive methods ayurved use.. if u want them to use the modern medicine…then it will be nothing but use of modern medicine.. in the hands of ayurved ……where is the existence of ayurved left… there will be nothing but loss of originality of ayurved itself…ayurved should be encouraged to its core and every heathcare supports that…ayurved should work for the most imp aspect of health care and that is called primary prevention …which will increase the core of health system itself .but instead they draw shortcuts here…sir…if this act is to pass….i request the author to only approach ayurvedic doctors for any surgeries…and i want your conscience to feel the guilt if you see any modern appartus being used…there …i would rather want your surgeries be as painful as it used to be in ayurvedic times…for thats what you advocate here…and keep on calling doctors money minded…..and next time pls be ashamed if your ever call doctors frontline warrios…who died for you in this corona time for according to you they died for money….pls go and see how surgeries are performed in ot…and you will know ..just so u know a general surgeon performing ent practices as well is unethical….leave behind ayurved alone…get knowledge fully on subjects…pls read the surgeries and how are they done…read of all possible complications and then give false knowledge…dont be a country of pade likhe illiterates
Actually crux of the issue is because Ayurvedic surgeons desire higher incomes and career progression by performing some common general and ENT surgeries in the Allopathic way.
They want to prescribe Allopathic drugs yet they they will accuse pharmaceutical companies of looting patients They want to prescribe Allopathic drugs yet they will accuse Allopathic drugs of having many side effects. They will say Allopathic doctors are only trying to make money all the time yet they also want to practise Allopathy. They will say Ayurveda is time-tested without side effects and has cures for all diseases yet they will want to study modern medicine in their courses. What is one to make of all this? Are they trying to “modernise” Ayurveda?
So I believe it is actually commercial interests of Ayurvedic lobby that is behind this regulation. Instead Mr Chari accuses Allopaths of protecting their turf and commercial interests. Pure diversionary politics from Mr Chari.
The root cause of this government notification is Ayurvedic private colleges and hospitals wanting more business. Many of these institutions are run by politicians themselves. They have funded the BJP.
Please don’t publish articles to show ” both sides of an argument ” not every argument has two sides …for argument sake let’s say ayurveda doctors can perform surgeries …who will provide them with surgical equipment , training , Anastasia …these all have to come from institutions trained in western medicine ,so what’s ayurvedic about any of this ? Wonder how many MPs and MLAs will line up to get themselves operated by a ayurvedic doctor , I bet this organizers article guy himself wouldn’t …
I am so grossly disappointed by this opinion article. I used to believe in the quality of material published by ThePrint but it seems to be deteriorating lately. I am a firm believer of Ayurveda but to think that these practitioners can perform surgery by adding a few courses in their curriculum is preposterous. Even after years of surgical learning and training, many Indian medical workers still exhibit disregard for the value of human life and the global medical standards. Medical care is the last place where India should be cutting corners and worsening its quality further by inviting in cheap labor.
The worst statement in this article is this: “The Covid-19 pandemic has proved that preventive healthcare modules and immunity-boosting components and healthcare systems are far superior to post-ailment remedial measures.” Can the author please provide some facts to support this claim?
If you are a firm believer in Ayurveda, how can you not believe in Ayurvedic surgery? Ayurvedic surgery has been part of their ancient texts.
Issue here is Ayurvedic surgery copying modern medicine texts and methods and equipment to perform some surgeries which modern medical science surgeons do. If ayurvedic surgery is really complete in all aspects they should not be copying and practising modern medical surgery. Half-knowledge is a dangerous thing. It’s like with some training cutting up with a surgical scalpel is not so dificult just like a footballer practices hitting a goal. ! But maybe the wise politicians have done the risk calculation already and very well know public will support them so it doesn’t matter to them.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has proved that preventive healthcare modules and immunity-boosting components and healthcare systems are far superior to post-ailment remedial measures”
Agreed prevention is better than cure. But where are the scientific studies published for these immunity boosters. All you have is just claims. Where is the scientific evidence that steam inhalation or applying coconut oil in the nose can kill the virus? And in this country you can get away with such claims or recommendations because people are so gullible, ignorant and backward.
“There is already an ongoing debate on Ayurveda turning its focus to treating symptoms, which modern medical science does, instead of primarily seeking to tackle an illness”
Look how Chari degrades modern medical science with this statement. If I understood right, he thinks or believes that only Ayurvaids know how to cure diseases from the root.
For those modern medicine doctors who voted for the BJP, you thoroughly deserve to get what you voted for. Wait till 2030 when the integrated UG course is launched, our medical science students will learn how to dispense homeopathy treatment!
Ok, sirjee.
Thankyou for the pearls of wisdom.But I have some humble doubts which needed clarification.
For most major surgical procedures, anaesthesia is required and which Ayurvedic drugs are going to be used for anaesthesia?
What are the procedures for post operative care-would you use antibiotics to treat infections after a surgery done by an Ayurvedic doctor?
Patient who undergo transplant operations need potent immunosuppression afterwards-what is the protocol in Ayurveda or Unani for this?
Totally crazy decisions are being made by this government based on ideology and I would like to see Modi and Amit Shah being the first to receive surgery from Ayurvedic surgeons-they are constantly preaching to the population of India and I would like to see them set an example for a change.
All systems of medicine have their own place in the world. What is required is validation of Ayurvedic and other alternative treatments through rigorous clinical trials and scientific research so that the whole world can benefit from the wisdom in these ancient texts. The most widely used treatment for the deadly variety of Malaria in the world (Artemisinin compounds) was developed from ancient Chinese medicine by some Chinese doctors and they won the Nobel prize for their efforts.That kind of innovation is what is required in India instead of such pig-headed ideas.
This “convergence” is nothing but pseudoscience based traditional systems trying to make themselves viable using modern medical devices and techniques.
If surgery is simply a skill to be mastered without having underlying knowlege, I think even veterinarians can do a better job than ayurvedic surgeons because at least they get trained in anatomy and physiology apart from the foundations of physics and chemistry.
More than 500 allopathic doctors died during the pandemic many of them serving the public. How many Ayurvedics or homeopaths died? What new studies or scientific insights have come out of ayurvedic or homeopathy treatment for coronavirus? Is it published peer reviewed and globally recognised? What new understanding of coronavirus infections and symptoms has Ayurveda or homeopathy developed?
As a neutral observer from a non-medical backgroud, what is wrong if a MS Ayurvedic (shalya, shalakya) post-graduates are rigorously trained (like 5-8 years) by Allopathic colleges in modern surgery for a duration that is accepted according to a strict regulation. In short I am trying to understand what is wrong in a well trained “mixopathy” surgeons who has both the skills of Ayurveda and Allopathy? Could you share your opinion? But please avoid saying like encroaching, poaching of modern medicine by Ayurveda.
why does that need to be? If there is a shortage of doctors, then increase medical colleges and the number of seats?
this seems like to give gainful employment to ppl who could not cut it into a medical college and have no clientele post Ayurveda degree.
By that standard may be a biomedical engineer can be trained to perform surgery?
Surgery is not just skill. It also requires firm knowledge. It is not about using the machines of modern medicine that aid the surgery. The experience and knowledge of the surgeon matter more than anything else.
Even an Operation Theater Assistant can cut your liver or intestine with some experience as well as a surgeon can. So can we ask OT Assistants to do surgery with some training?
Now when things go wrong on the surgery table, it is medical knowledge that saves the patient from complications. And also post-operative care requires medical knowledge to heal the patient and send him/her home.
And this knowledge takes years , it requires a firm grounding in medical science subjects, tested via exams both written and practical, then post graduation and then senior residency. You basically learn from your seniors and patients not everything is written in textbooks.
If ayurvedic surgeons want to use modern medical equipment and medicine to do allopathic surgery then it shows that they think allopathic surgery is just a skill that needs to be mastered and they don’t think it is necessary to spend time to acquire the foundations of modern medical science in depth. This is a wrong way to go about it.
Nobody has a problem if Ayurvedic surgeons do surgery as per their system and texts. In fact some traditional ayurvedic surgeries in government ayurvedic hospitals are quite skillfully done and successful like ano-rectal surgery. But it is quite evident now that some ayurvedic hospitals want more number of patients coming to them for surgery to increase their incomes so they want a government backed regulation to practise allopathic surgery.
Explanation for disease in ayurveda is outdated. Explanation for disease in modern medical science is based on current research and evidence.
If ayurvedic wants to do allopathic surgery then why have an ayurveda MS degree at all? If ayurvedic students are getting exposed to modern medical science subjects in their UG why even have a BAMS degree at all?
The ayurvedic needs support of the radiologist and anaesthetist to perform surgery. For post-operative care antibiotics etc are required. Antibiotics clearly don’t fit into ayurvedic model of disease. So what is the point in mixing 2 theories? If an ancient theory is not relevant in today’s world, simply discard it…
Modern medical surgery itself has adapted from several ancient medical systems all over the world including ayurveda but now it has become so deep/specialised and there is much more research and evidence in it compared to any other older medical system. So better to get educated and trained in it from UG itself and approach MS in surgery with it’s knowledge base.
I am not a surgeon or doctor but as a patient I have questions. How this Mixopathy will be implemented – the devil I think will be in the details.
How does a Mixopath decide what drug to give to a patient before or after surgery? And during the recovery which sometimes takes months? Who judges if both allopathic drugs and ayurvedic drugs interact with each other and harm the patient? Have scientific studies been done with mixing medicines? Generally drugs in allopathy are well regulated and chemical composition is controlled/known, with standards same all over the world. That is not the case with ayurvedic medicine.
Also Allopaths are legally liable for medical negligence, but there are no such strict laws for ayush doctors – so who judges if a Mixopath botches up a surgery? Can an Allopathic trained surgeon judge the surgery done by a Mixopath surgeon?
IMA is big ego and elitist bunch of idiots..science ia not monopoly of these oversmart doctors..
Can you honestly say you always goto traditional medicine if you have serious ailment requiring surgery? Don’t be hypocrite. First Auyrvedic and Siddha has to undergo scientific process which is the rational way of proving efficacy of things. Rather than blindly believing 2000+ years text for modern disease is not going to help anyone but only grow the ego.
Agreed science is not a monopoly of any medical system. But then try to use science and scientific methods to explain your ayurvedic theories of disease. You won’t accept the scrutiny of science there, won’t you?
Science says homeopathy does not work, it has been proven in many scientific studies. But you will not accept that, won’t you?
Don’t be selective regarding science.
These so called ayurvedic doctors knows they are ancient technology which is outdated with no proof of there efficacy to cure anything other than good body massage for muscle aches. If so good why no other country uses it. Now they want shortcut to modern medicine. Why don’t they stick to there medicine. People goes to ayurveda doctor thinking there medicine got no side effects which is bogus claim with no substance as they do have side effects but no research to see what are side effects.. They give paracetamol crushed with there medicine for immediate cure to fever and poor patient think they have taken ayurvedic medicine…
This move by the government shines a light upon the levels of intelligence that abide between the 2 ears of individuals who have become our policymakers. it is a joke to think that an Ayurveda practitioner is capable of carrying out surgery. In our country, even allopathy has not yet reached a point where training levels are adequate enough to ensure high standards amongst doctors. Instead of taking steps to raise the bar in health sciences and ensuring that quality healthcare is delivered to the general public, here is another ‘innovative’ gimmick which will allow practically everyone to pick up a knife and cut into people. Untold miseries are up ahead for the unsuspecting. It will be nice to see though, all ministers and the likes of Seshadhari chari to get their own surgeries done by Ayurveda exponents here. What i have seen in the last 5 years is that the Government and its mouthpieces go all out to badmouth allopathic doctors, private hospitals and yet run to private hospitals the moment they catch a cold. Haven’t seen a single one of them operated upon by an Ayurveda doctor – no Sir, I haven’t.
Even the Ayush minister got admitted for coronavirus to an allopathic hospital and underwent plasma therapy.
Just like the Farm Laws and other ordinances bulldozed through Parliament by this government during a pandemic, there is no better time as good as this for the government to shove such notifications down the throats of modern medicine.
An excellent comment Dr Sanjay Sarup. Rabid Hindutva supporters and Modi bhakths like Mr Chari will be the first to send themselves and their loved ones to the most advanced and expensive Allopathic treatment centres when they themselves face medical problems. And they will be the first to insist that the Ayurvedic quacks that wield scalpels be kept at many arm’s lengths from themselves.
HYPOCRISY WRIT LARGE MR CHARI !!!
“Untold miseries are up ahead for the unsuspecting.”
Why do allopaths need to worry about safety of patients who go to ayurvaids? The public are big fans of RSS Modi Hindutva ideology so let them get the medical treatment that RSS thinks is best for them. Those who have the wherewithal and awareness will come to allopaths for surgery anyways.
If the cost of ayurvedic surgery is cheap and safe enough let public go for it. If they can have blind faith in Hindutva I don’t see a reason why they cannot have blind faith in our tradition medical systems too.
Let public get the medical treatment they voted for and suffer/enjoy the consequences for that.
It is very unlikely the government will listen to the IMA. Knowing their political strength, government will not budge an inch.
Let the author be the first patient to get operated on by an ayurvedic doctor. Please set up an example for others so that the general public decides whether it is a jugaad or not.
The author fails in understand the basic point which is patient safety. If the same continues, we are not far enough for a veterinary surgeon to start operating the humans with a slight modification in their syallabus . After all everyone is a mammal.
What a rotten article…
There is clearly defined path to practice …what you choose.
Mixopathy is a hazard…including..4 head and neck specialties in one…great boss
Does the writer what is evidence base medicine..
Does he know there are atleast 7 postgraduate subspecialty in just dentistry alone….and it takes atleast 9 yrs to be reasonably competent…
Bull shit is good…but not at the cost of somebody’s life
Dear BJP. For god sake, realize that there is an important element to any medicine. Research & Evidence. Dont make policies or statements without any research and evidence backing. Nothing proved to say that Indian traditional medicine boosted immunity against covid. some of the traditional practices such as homeopathy you think are not Indian tradition at all. Don’t mess everything. Listen to IMA, ICMR and AIIMS. Let the medical professional make health policies. We are not living in ayurvedic times. We are living in times where a vaccine is made within a year.
I will be damned the day I let an Ayurveda practitioner perform a surgery on me or my loved ones.
There is another form of “belief medicine” that thinks crushing the scales of a pangolin and consuming it can cure ED in men. 1.5million people have died in 2020 all over the world at its behest.
There are a lot of assumptions and misunderstandings in this writeup which appears to be an attempt to discredit the objections as just a professional rivalry or to protect commercial interest.
Lack of understanding of the basis of modern medicine or allopathy: it is based on science and on evidence. Even though alternative medicine practices including Ayurveda, Homeopathy will claim effectiveness of their medicines and treatment practices, the level of scientific evidence (please learn about it if you are unaware) is so low or non existent (e.g. for Homeopathy). However, if a traditional medicine or ayurvedic medicine has had enough evidence of effectiveness in a particular condition, it is accepted as a part of modern medicine.
The objection is not a turf war or protection of commercial interest but to protect the general public. If an ayurvedic surgeon perform an operation on a patient using ayurvedic anaesthesia and medicines and using their own surgical instruments and machines, ayurvedic techniques and wound care and all, probably it can be justified to some extent (even ignoring the risks and lack of evidence). However, there are no such things as ayurvedic anaesthesia. If they want to practice modern surgery without the modern allopathic training, that’s putting significant risks to the patients and potential for harms. There is a reason why pharmacists or nurses who are more trained and have more knowledge on modern allopathic medicines/procedures than alternative medicine practitioners are not allowed to prescribe medicines or do surgery. You ask yourself and answer truthfully, when you need an operation and have the choice of an allopathic surgeon and an ayurvedic surgeon, who will you choose?
I hope author and all those who are advocating Ayurveda as an alternative medicine refuse to take covid medicine and let others take it, I hope author announces publicly that he will always get treated with Ayurveda even if he is on last breath, it is nothing but gimmick of bjp and its cronies, all these leaders who suffered from covid got themselve treated by allopathy and in modern hospitals but when it come to poor citizens they bring all stupid idea
Not only Ayurveda, all the other AYUSH systems including Homeopathy borrow from each other and have common understanding when it comes to anatomy and physiology. Entire AYUSH system should be taught to all medical graduates belonging to any field. Already in India there are many Allopathic doctors who prescribe Homeopathic and Ayurvedic medicine in addition to Allopathic medicine to their patients. So why other systems doctors cannot do so? As regards surgery, a doctor belonging to any system of medicine can be trained in modern surgical procedures. These steps will not only drive down the cost of medical services in India but also address the shortage of trained doctors in the country. Even paramedical staff having sufficient experience should be trained in surgery and allowed to perform basic surgical procedures and practice surgery. Chari ji is right that this is a turf war and also a war of commercial interests.
… Already in India there are many Allopathic doctors who prescribe Homeopathic and Ayurvedic medicine in addition to Allopathic medicine to their patients. So why other systems doctors cannot do so? …
No practitioner of modern medicine would prescribe homeopathy or ayurvedic. If you have evidence please complain to the authorities. Otherwise this is just peddling fake news.
There are side effects in every drug. Without proper understanding and training in the science of modern medicine, even common drugs can harm a patient. Imagine a homeopath prescribing paracetamol for fever. Paracetamol can affect your liver if it is given long term. Does the homeopath understand how drugs are metabolised? Without the rigour and training in modern medicine, the homeopath’s allopathic prescription can do harm to the patient.
This is a poorly written and misleading article. The issue is not that ayurvedic doctors can’t do surgery. The issue is that the gazette notification empowers them to do specific surgeries of modern medicine, which are outside their field I. E ayurveda. For example, there is no problem if they treat sinus issues with their techniques. However the notice says that they can perform functional Endoscopic sinus surgery!
Another point, in modern medicine, ophthalmology is a 3 year postgraduate course, ENT a separate 3 year postgraduate course, dentistry an entirely separate stream. In the new ayurvedic degree, eye, ENT and dentistry are all combined into one 3year course! With the same practitioner being allowed to perform phaco emulsification for cataract, rhinoplasty for course, and tooth extraction! You decide if this is right or not.
It is just a backdoor entry to practise modern medicine surgical procedures using equipment of modern medicine but without the rigour and scientific foundations of modern medical science education.
It’s like you don’t need to be an engineer to
do repairs aon car. A mechanic can do the job just fine without knowing the physics of how an engine actually works. But in this case you are dealing with human lives. Even allopathic doctors botch up diagnosis and surgeries so I hope the Ayush lobby knows what are the consequences for patients especially the poor and in rural areas who don’t even know the difference between medicinal systems – they just go by blind faith in the doctor.
The author of this article has completely missed the point of the protests against this bill and seems to have been guided by personal biases. If practitioners of traditional or alternative systems of medicine wish to practice their own methods of medicine they should be allowed to do so. But they should not use allopathic methods, techniques and medicines and pass it off as their own!
The protests are against mixing these medical systems.
How do Ayurvedics give anaesthesia? Do they have any herbal medicines? If they are going to use drugs from modern medicine then it shows clearly that they are trying to encroach on turf of modern medicine practitioners with official government sanction without having foundation in modern science-based anaesthesiology.
Great!!
An article with no scientific backing. Just hearsay on nonsense like immune boosters, topped off with a headline intended to sensationalise. Didn’t expect this from you guys.
It’s nonsense to add bullockcart wheels to a modern car..ayurveda or any of these unani or homeo is rudimented, it does not use any scientific method for research, diagnosis or treatment. It just has someone written something in age old books which is used blindly. Yes it was the only medicine available in the age old times ,but you can’t use or apply it in this modern world ,where modern medicine has advanced to a point where we have hope to grow old even if we have a disease, all this happened after modern medicine, before that it was all natural selection..modern medicine is still an evolving way of medicine correcting and recorrecting itself to do good and no harm to none.
I would agree if one say it has adopted from ancient medicines…but it has also discarded whatever was unsafe, wrong and unnecessary of its own and of the ancient practices. …
This pandemic was not saved even by an iota by any of these ancient medicines as they claim….it’s being held together by the ardent efforts by the modern medicine world wide as a whole, by detection of the virus alerting appropriately and its containment and isolation , oxygen therapy, assisted ventilation care , and probable antiviral therapy, immunosuppressive therapy and hoping for a definite antiviral and vaccine … And as these quacks claim there is no immune boosters which are saving you, which is a big sales gimmick…if you get infected by the virus u become infected, asymptomatic or symptomatic , the consequences of symptomatic s are for another book and chapters on virology and immonology which ayurveda or any other form of medicine has ‘no any idea off’. So this pandemic was saved by masks and distancing and cleaning and will be saved by science and its advisories, the modern medicine ….so make modern medicine available.. In general it’s the modern medicine that explained, why we breathe and why the heart beat and why you can think with the brains you have….so that explains it all .
Yes. This could be a commercial fight for controlling surgeries. But let’s put our money where our mouth is.
Let RSS functionaries get their surgeries done by ayurveda surgery specialists. And then you will realise this is similar to fighting against English medium schools while sending your childerto the same ones.
I refer a true case study: my colleagu’s wife was diagonised by a MBBS doctor as jaundice patient and admitted in an hospital at Chennai. The hospital administration done all sorts of tests etc but unable to cure her. After a week she was unconscious and getting into coma stage. At the eleventh hour they told that they cannot save her. At this juncture as per recommendation of a friend a military retired homeopathy Doctor visited the patient as a friend and after going through the medical report that their wrongly diagonised her and suggested some homeopathy medicine for two days and assured she will be all right with in a week. When told about this to the hospital they objected it and after persuasion allowed to take the homeopathy medicine. To the surprise of the hospital doctors she came out of bed with in two days and fully recovered ina a week’s time. This has opened up our over dependence on allopathic treatment and understand that other forms of medical systems equally good. Infact in allopathic treatment side effects are there. The present government move to allow others to do surgery after due training will benefit people from villages. Health care must reach to all at a minimum cost is good for the nation.
One person whom I know had chronic fatigue syndrome for which there is no cure in allopathy but only management. Even modern medicine does not fully understand this chronic disease. He was on allopathic drugs for 2 years he was not happy that his condition was not improving much then he shifted to homeopathy. He died in 2 months after starting with homeopathic treatment. In this syndrome the electrical activity of the heart is disturbed so allopathic tests your heart rhythms and gives medicines for that. What do homeopathy doctors know about electrical activity of the heart? There are many such stories treatment horrors that never come out in public. Of course there are allopathic horrors as well no doubt due to incompetent doctors but at least you can get a second opinion in allopathy and rely on diagnostics.
As a patient don’t blindly trust your treatment. Understand the science behind the disease and the science behind the treatment. So that you can question your doctor whatever system it is and understand/manage your health condition better. Instead of blind faith. Then only you will know if you are taking a risk in treatment or not.
I can also quote a very recent case where one of my friend who recovered from COVID 19 but still have respiratory difficulties as after effect of the disease fed up with money he has to spend on allopathic (inherently its not allopathy medicine issue but the economic demand it has) met an Auyyrvedic Dr who gave him immunity booster without going through his medical reports. This resulted him being more tired and fluid collection in lungs. Actually the COVID has caused auto immune disease to my friend and the first thing to be done is to stop any immunity booster. After consulting with the allopathy Dr, he stopped the auyurvedic medicine and he gained back his health after that. So, don’t blindly believe in anything by seeing one case.
The problem with Ayurveda /Siddha is belief rather than science with the practitioners and promise cure for everything without knowing the disease.
What the Ayurvedic was doing is what one calls “shooting in the dark, hoping the bullet hits the target”. The Dr was probably thinking the Covid virus was still replicating. In post Covid the virus replication phase is over and the intense immune system response phase after the viral replication phase has damaged the lungs so the lungs need time to heal and come back to normalcy. In some cases the immune system response remains upregulated which therefore needs to be dampened with steroids. This shows clearly that without a firm understanding in the medical science of what a virus is, how a virus enters your cells, how long the virus replicates until the immune system detects it and the duration of the immune response phase aided with relevant diagnostics like blood reports and scans , trying to treating a patient blindly using incomplete knowledge from any type of doctor be it Allopathic or Ayush could only cause more harm than heal.
This is a fairy tale made up story. Unless evidence is provided and details are known it is not verifiable in the realm of evidence based medicine.
A homeopath predicting someone can come out of coma in a week’s time ? I am not fooled by it but I know millions of Indians can be easily fooled by these kinds of stories. No evidence required. We are after all a nation of believers, right?
This write-up by Chari is utterly non-sensical. We do agree Ayurveda as an alternative medicine to be taken orally. Actually, it should be qualified through experiments that the drug works not through placebo. Next, the Government cannot expose innocent people to its experiments. First, it should stop its ministers from rushing to AIIMs for treatment. When BJP thinks Ayurveda is great and cure for all, all it ministers should take it without aid of AIIMS. They should in no way be allowed to go for allopathy.
Next, Chary is ageing, he should get his cataract operations done with Ayurvedic Surgeons he is proposing. So also his colleagues. When the cadre pressurizes something, the P.M. takes decision. It is not his fault. This absurd cadre should be barred from taking allopathy for all their illnesses. Even if the BJP forcibly throws its laws on people, we the people, will seek to declare by label whether so…so doctor is an allopathic surgeon or not. We will have the choice. Perhaps, Chari is aspiring for some bigger post in the cabinet to write all this stuff.
This government is planning an “integrated” medical buffoon’s course by 2030 where modern medical students will be taught ayurveda and can prescribe ayurvedic medicines ! What is the point in studying all that physics and chemistry and statistics in school and doing a MBBS degree in college for which the actual foundation is the scientific method based progress in medicine and surgery in last 100-150 years.
Today with this notification (I am not waiting for 2030) I hope as a patient I will have rights to ask the doctor who is performing my surgery what is he/she qualified in which medical system training he/she has had. While this notification will make more impact in rural areas, I don’t want to become a guinea pig just because allopathic private hospital businesses try to cut corners in urban areas.
Your are a dense incompetent idiot who has no place to talk about this issue, your opinions are clouded by your political beliefs and like your political beliefs make no sense
Please give value to the Indian medicine AYURVEDA WE ARE joined to the BAMS TROUGH ENTRANCE TEST WITH BEST STATE RANK ONLY AND WE EQUALLY STUDYING THE MODERN MEDICINE ALSO AS PER OUR CCIM SYLLABUS PLSE ENCOURAGE AYURVEDA THIS IS OUR MOTHER
Madam, I have a good idea of what your syllabus contains. It barely covers 1% of anatomy & physiology of what we have covered. I have dealt with duty doctors from AYUSH streams trying allopathic medicines. In 8 months of work in corporate hospital, they refuse to follow orders, they mislead patients saying diabetes got cured and nearly ended up killing some of my patients. I quit the job whatever the salary they give.
The local RSS hospital is mostly run by duty doctors from AYUSH stream. They do not have a single allopathic physician because everyone refuses to work with AYUSH because they really lack rudimentary knowledge of the basis of modern science itself let alone modern medicine.
You are free to follow your specialty. Build your own hospitals and take responsibility of 24 hrs care along with ICU whether you use modern scientific equipment & medicines or not we don’t care but please do not mix up with us and trap us in legal cases by harming patients and do not send your patients to use. We are tired of hearing patients undergoing AYUSH treatment and coming to us when it is too late and harassing us throughout day and night to do something.
By the way, there is no separate entrance exam for AYUSH branches. Those who chose AYUSH branches are usually those who get last ranks. Everyone knows how much the last rankers score. So, don’t bullshit. This bullshit itself is indicative of how much you lie and mislead patients and Modiji calls modern medicine doctors thieves & anti-national without even convicting a single modern medicine doctor.
By the way, for your kind information, if BJP & RSS & other Sangh Parivar believe so much in AYUSH medicine, how come so many of them have died from COVID? How come Haryana minister Anil Vij joined as a volunteer for COVAXIN trials and got the vaccine even before it was approved How come so many Sangh parivar supporting bureaucrats have enrolled in COVID vaccine trials in all states if they believe that AYUSH can cure their diseases?
Venkaiah Naidu & his wife take modern medicines. He is from my place. Nitin Gadkari, ARun Jaitley & Sushma Swaraj all have undergone allopathic treatments.
Don’t you see the hypocrisy here? They do not care about the common man. They are only bothered about their own political power. They know for a fact that AYUSH does not work. Many RSS people are my patients on a regular basis.
If they really believe it to be so, let them build a superspecialty AYUSH hospital and get complete treatment over there & not AIIMS. But, they can force modern medicine doctors to attend to them because they are politicians & goondas. The common man & the poor man will only get frustrated with this confusion and there will be more violence against all forms of doctors which has anyway risen during the BJP regime as it is.
If you are studying modern medicine subjects in your Ayurveda UG degree then you are being manipulated by the government to do backdoor entry to practise modern medicine.
These are two irreconcilable systems of medicine but the Ayush lobby is trying to achieve it’s mission because it has the political backing behind it.
Assuming you are studying modern medicine textbooks in your degree and there is rigour in how you are tested in knowledge of modern medicine:
Can your ayurvedic diagnoses and treatments be explained with modern medicine pharmacokinetics and diagnostics?
For same disease which medicine will you prescribe : ayurvedic or drugs of modern medicine? For same disease how can there be two explanatory causes – one based on doshas/pittas the other based on say biochemistry/physiology/pathology? Is this logical?
Can you scientifically explain the concept of doshas or pittas in terms of pathology or histology or biochemistry or physiology or cell biology?
I see confusion in all of this mixed knowledge…it seems ayurveda as a profession does not fully have confidence in their own tradition.
If Ayurvada is so good, why do ministers go to the best allopathic hospitals for treatment? Obviously, they know the truth about Ayurveda. Nevertheless, driven by a political agenda of the good old Hindutva, they want to give a legitimacy to Ayurveda by giving its practitioners a backdoor entry into the Allopathic system.
Another hypocritical article written by Seshadri Chari which exposes his own political ideology more than expressing scientific vigour
The hilarious aspect of this piece is that most of our Union Ministers including Amit Shah etc, will stay at AIIMS and recieve allopathic medicines and get operated on surgeons which are MBBS graduates rather than BAMS
And if such improvement is required in the medical system why not impose the 2 year rural bond on AYUSH graduates rather than MBBS ones
Cannot expect much from such sanghis.. Why don’t we let local mestris to apply for jobs reserved for engineers? As it is we are poor country with third rate roads, bridges, medical infra.. Amd this will screw it further
I think we simply require more doctors for our population. Healthcare have multiple approaches and they need to thrive simultaneously. I have seen some cases where best results are achieved by cross branch integration. There are limitations of each branch as well, hence it is not fair to “limit” procedures to only A branch.
Urban people still have some options but as you move away from urban areas for conducting processes availability of professionals is very limited. We cannot deny the access to process when a professional can be skilled to perform such processes.
Further, education in allopathy is abysmally costly making, medical professionals of low income group almost impossible. This can be brought down only by matching some kind of demand supply.
It is easy to see logic in IMA but needs of citizens are more urgent.
In medical world dealing with human life quality is more important than quantity.
A headache can be due to tension or it can be due to cancer.
I don’t have a problem of Ayurvedic surgeons doing anaesthesia and surgeries as per their system. Don’t use modern medicine drugs and surgical devices to do surgery by ayurvedic when ayurvedic don’t know physics chemistry anatomy and physiology of it (let alone about cells, molecules and microbes) and the basis for disease is understood by ayurvedic differently from modern medicine which is based on the scientific method.
Why doesn’t Mr Seshadri put his money where his mouth is and only get treated by Ayurvedic practitioners, including surgeons? It has become fashionable for these buffoons to cast aspersions on anyone who questions the decisions of the government, no matter what the expertise of the dissident might be, whether it is farmers or doctors. Shekhar Gupta has already misled the public with his clutter on the farm bills. Inviting this fool on his platform is adding to the insult.
I am not a doctor but I am of the understanding some of these surgeries wer already being practiced by ayurvedic surgeons.
This notification has made it legal to practise a list of surgeries.
Is there anywhere I can find the number of surgeries conducted in ayurveda per year, types of surgeries and the success rates? Do the already conducted surgeries (before the notification) use allopathic drugs before, during and after the surgery?
Just few months ago….it was this countrie’s people who were like lunatics beating their utensils in name of honoring doctors…praying them…and now all of sudden they are nothing but mere businessmen only concerned for monetary benefits…why not…bjp kills democracy with hypocrisy and you media do the same ..make gods or devils as per your convenience….as far as this matter is concerned…the surgeries that have been mentioned are the ones which have with years of knowledge improved and improvements were done with the help of researches to decrease complications…now the question is just based on the fact that ayurved was the origin of it…will not be enough to increase complication rates that have been decreased so far with years…they will increase with the use of primitive methods ayurved use.. if u want them to use the modern medicine…then it will be nothing but use of modern medicine.. in the hands of ayurved ……where is the existence of ayurved left… there will be nothing but loss of originality of ayurved itself…ayurved should be encouraged to its core and every heathcare supports that…ayurved should work for the most imp aspect of health care and that is called primary prevention …which will increase the core of health system itself .but instead they draw shortcuts here…sir…if this act is to pass….i request the author to only approach ayurvedic doctors for any surgeries…and i want your conscience to feel the guilt if you see any modern appartus being used…there …i would rather want your surgeries be as painful as it used to be in ayurvedic times…for thats what you advocate here…and keep on calling doctors money minded…..and next time pls be ashamed if your ever call doctors frontline warrios…who died for you in this corona time for according to you they died for money….pls go and see how surgeries are performed in ot…and you will know ..just so u know a general surgeon performing ent practices as well is unethical….leave behind ayurved alone…get knowledge fully on subjects…pls read the surgeries and how are they done…read of all possible complications and then give false knowledge…dont be a country of pade likhe illiterates
Actually crux of the issue is because Ayurvedic surgeons desire higher incomes and career progression by performing some common general and ENT surgeries in the Allopathic way.
They want to prescribe Allopathic drugs yet they they will accuse pharmaceutical companies of looting patients They want to prescribe Allopathic drugs yet they will accuse Allopathic drugs of having many side effects. They will say Allopathic doctors are only trying to make money all the time yet they also want to practise Allopathy. They will say Ayurveda is time-tested without side effects and has cures for all diseases yet they will want to study modern medicine in their courses. What is one to make of all this? Are they trying to “modernise” Ayurveda?
So I believe it is actually commercial interests of Ayurvedic lobby that is behind this regulation. Instead Mr Chari accuses Allopaths of protecting their turf and commercial interests. Pure diversionary politics from Mr Chari.
The root cause of this government notification is Ayurvedic private colleges and hospitals wanting more business. Many of these institutions are run by politicians themselves. They have funded the BJP.
Make it mandator for all the Politicians and Babus to to have their surgeries done at the hands of Ayurvedic surgeons.
Promotion of Vedic culture and cultivating scientific mindset cannot happen together.
Please don’t publish articles to show ” both sides of an argument ” not every argument has two sides …for argument sake let’s say ayurveda doctors can perform surgeries …who will provide them with surgical equipment , training , Anastasia …these all have to come from institutions trained in western medicine ,so what’s ayurvedic about any of this ? Wonder how many MPs and MLAs will line up to get themselves operated by a ayurvedic doctor , I bet this organizers article guy himself wouldn’t …
I am so grossly disappointed by this opinion article. I used to believe in the quality of material published by ThePrint but it seems to be deteriorating lately. I am a firm believer of Ayurveda but to think that these practitioners can perform surgery by adding a few courses in their curriculum is preposterous. Even after years of surgical learning and training, many Indian medical workers still exhibit disregard for the value of human life and the global medical standards. Medical care is the last place where India should be cutting corners and worsening its quality further by inviting in cheap labor.
The worst statement in this article is this: “The Covid-19 pandemic has proved that preventive healthcare modules and immunity-boosting components and healthcare systems are far superior to post-ailment remedial measures.” Can the author please provide some facts to support this claim?
Ridiculous!
If you are a firm believer in Ayurveda, how can you not believe in Ayurvedic surgery? Ayurvedic surgery has been part of their ancient texts.
Issue here is Ayurvedic surgery copying modern medicine texts and methods and equipment to perform some surgeries which modern medical science surgeons do. If ayurvedic surgery is really complete in all aspects they should not be copying and practising modern medical surgery. Half-knowledge is a dangerous thing. It’s like with some training cutting up with a surgical scalpel is not so dificult just like a footballer practices hitting a goal. ! But maybe the wise politicians have done the risk calculation already and very well know public will support them so it doesn’t matter to them.
buyers beware !!!
“The Covid-19 pandemic has proved that preventive healthcare modules and immunity-boosting components and healthcare systems are far superior to post-ailment remedial measures”
Agreed prevention is better than cure. But where are the scientific studies published for these immunity boosters. All you have is just claims. Where is the scientific evidence that steam inhalation or applying coconut oil in the nose can kill the virus? And in this country you can get away with such claims or recommendations because people are so gullible, ignorant and backward.
“There is already an ongoing debate on Ayurveda turning its focus to treating symptoms, which modern medical science does, instead of primarily seeking to tackle an illness”
Look how Chari degrades modern medical science with this statement. If I understood right, he thinks or believes that only Ayurvaids know how to cure diseases from the root.
For those modern medicine doctors who voted for the BJP, you thoroughly deserve to get what you voted for. Wait till 2030 when the integrated UG course is launched, our medical science students will learn how to dispense homeopathy treatment!
Ok, sirjee.
Thankyou for the pearls of wisdom.But I have some humble doubts which needed clarification.
For most major surgical procedures, anaesthesia is required and which Ayurvedic drugs are going to be used for anaesthesia?
What are the procedures for post operative care-would you use antibiotics to treat infections after a surgery done by an Ayurvedic doctor?
Patient who undergo transplant operations need potent immunosuppression afterwards-what is the protocol in Ayurveda or Unani for this?
Totally crazy decisions are being made by this government based on ideology and I would like to see Modi and Amit Shah being the first to receive surgery from Ayurvedic surgeons-they are constantly preaching to the population of India and I would like to see them set an example for a change.
All systems of medicine have their own place in the world. What is required is validation of Ayurvedic and other alternative treatments through rigorous clinical trials and scientific research so that the whole world can benefit from the wisdom in these ancient texts. The most widely used treatment for the deadly variety of Malaria in the world (Artemisinin compounds) was developed from ancient Chinese medicine by some Chinese doctors and they won the Nobel prize for their efforts.That kind of innovation is what is required in India instead of such pig-headed ideas.
This “convergence” is nothing but pseudoscience based traditional systems trying to make themselves viable using modern medical devices and techniques.
If surgery is simply a skill to be mastered without having underlying knowlege, I think even veterinarians can do a better job than ayurvedic surgeons because at least they get trained in anatomy and physiology apart from the foundations of physics and chemistry.
More than 500 allopathic doctors died during the pandemic many of them serving the public. How many Ayurvedics or homeopaths died? What new studies or scientific insights have come out of ayurvedic or homeopathy treatment for coronavirus? Is it published peer reviewed and globally recognised? What new understanding of coronavirus infections and symptoms has Ayurveda or homeopathy developed?
The most important element of successful surgery is the post surgery healing process in which modern Allopathic antibiotics play an important role.
Do Aryuveda doctors plan to use Aryuvedic antibiotics.
If Allopathic antibiotics are to be used, why not get the surgery done by the ones having MS degree
As a neutral observer from a non-medical backgroud, what is wrong if a MS Ayurvedic (shalya, shalakya) post-graduates are rigorously trained (like 5-8 years) by Allopathic colleges in modern surgery for a duration that is accepted according to a strict regulation. In short I am trying to understand what is wrong in a well trained “mixopathy” surgeons who has both the skills of Ayurveda and Allopathy? Could you share your opinion? But please avoid saying like encroaching, poaching of modern medicine by Ayurveda.
why does that need to be? If there is a shortage of doctors, then increase medical colleges and the number of seats?
this seems like to give gainful employment to ppl who could not cut it into a medical college and have no clientele post Ayurveda degree.
By that standard may be a biomedical engineer can be trained to perform surgery?
Surgery is not just skill. It also requires firm knowledge. It is not about using the machines of modern medicine that aid the surgery. The experience and knowledge of the surgeon matter more than anything else.
Even an Operation Theater Assistant can cut your liver or intestine with some experience as well as a surgeon can. So can we ask OT Assistants to do surgery with some training?
Now when things go wrong on the surgery table, it is medical knowledge that saves the patient from complications. And also post-operative care requires medical knowledge to heal the patient and send him/her home.
And this knowledge takes years , it requires a firm grounding in medical science subjects, tested via exams both written and practical, then post graduation and then senior residency. You basically learn from your seniors and patients not everything is written in textbooks.
If ayurvedic surgeons want to use modern medical equipment and medicine to do allopathic surgery then it shows that they think allopathic surgery is just a skill that needs to be mastered and they don’t think it is necessary to spend time to acquire the foundations of modern medical science in depth. This is a wrong way to go about it.
Nobody has a problem if Ayurvedic surgeons do surgery as per their system and texts. In fact some traditional ayurvedic surgeries in government ayurvedic hospitals are quite skillfully done and successful like ano-rectal surgery. But it is quite evident now that some ayurvedic hospitals want more number of patients coming to them for surgery to increase their incomes so they want a government backed regulation to practise allopathic surgery.
Explanation for disease in ayurveda is outdated. Explanation for disease in modern medical science is based on current research and evidence.
If ayurvedic wants to do allopathic surgery then why have an ayurveda MS degree at all? If ayurvedic students are getting exposed to modern medical science subjects in their UG why even have a BAMS degree at all?
The ayurvedic needs support of the radiologist and anaesthetist to perform surgery. For post-operative care antibiotics etc are required. Antibiotics clearly don’t fit into ayurvedic model of disease. So what is the point in mixing 2 theories? If an ancient theory is not relevant in today’s world, simply discard it…
Modern medical surgery itself has adapted from several ancient medical systems all over the world including ayurveda but now it has become so deep/specialised and there is much more research and evidence in it compared to any other older medical system. So better to get educated and trained in it from UG itself and approach MS in surgery with it’s knowledge base.
I am not a surgeon or doctor but as a patient I have questions. How this Mixopathy will be implemented – the devil I think will be in the details.
How does a Mixopath decide what drug to give to a patient before or after surgery? And during the recovery which sometimes takes months? Who judges if both allopathic drugs and ayurvedic drugs interact with each other and harm the patient? Have scientific studies been done with mixing medicines? Generally drugs in allopathy are well regulated and chemical composition is controlled/known, with standards same all over the world. That is not the case with ayurvedic medicine.
Also Allopaths are legally liable for medical negligence, but there are no such strict laws for ayush doctors – so who judges if a Mixopath botches up a surgery? Can an Allopathic trained surgeon judge the surgery done by a Mixopath surgeon?
IMA is big ego and elitist bunch of idiots..science ia not monopoly of these oversmart doctors..
Can you honestly say you always goto traditional medicine if you have serious ailment requiring surgery? Don’t be hypocrite. First Auyrvedic and Siddha has to undergo scientific process which is the rational way of proving efficacy of things. Rather than blindly believing 2000+ years text for modern disease is not going to help anyone but only grow the ego.
Agreed science is not a monopoly of any medical system. But then try to use science and scientific methods to explain your ayurvedic theories of disease. You won’t accept the scrutiny of science there, won’t you?
Science says homeopathy does not work, it has been proven in many scientific studies. But you will not accept that, won’t you?
Don’t be selective regarding science.
These so called ayurvedic doctors knows they are ancient technology which is outdated with no proof of there efficacy to cure anything other than good body massage for muscle aches. If so good why no other country uses it. Now they want shortcut to modern medicine. Why don’t they stick to there medicine. People goes to ayurveda doctor thinking there medicine got no side effects which is bogus claim with no substance as they do have side effects but no research to see what are side effects.. They give paracetamol crushed with there medicine for immediate cure to fever and poor patient think they have taken ayurvedic medicine…
This move by the government shines a light upon the levels of intelligence that abide between the 2 ears of individuals who have become our policymakers. it is a joke to think that an Ayurveda practitioner is capable of carrying out surgery. In our country, even allopathy has not yet reached a point where training levels are adequate enough to ensure high standards amongst doctors. Instead of taking steps to raise the bar in health sciences and ensuring that quality healthcare is delivered to the general public, here is another ‘innovative’ gimmick which will allow practically everyone to pick up a knife and cut into people. Untold miseries are up ahead for the unsuspecting. It will be nice to see though, all ministers and the likes of Seshadhari chari to get their own surgeries done by Ayurveda exponents here. What i have seen in the last 5 years is that the Government and its mouthpieces go all out to badmouth allopathic doctors, private hospitals and yet run to private hospitals the moment they catch a cold. Haven’t seen a single one of them operated upon by an Ayurveda doctor – no Sir, I haven’t.
Even the Ayush minister got admitted for coronavirus to an allopathic hospital and underwent plasma therapy.
Just like the Farm Laws and other ordinances bulldozed through Parliament by this government during a pandemic, there is no better time as good as this for the government to shove such notifications down the throats of modern medicine.
An excellent comment Dr Sanjay Sarup. Rabid Hindutva supporters and Modi bhakths like Mr Chari will be the first to send themselves and their loved ones to the most advanced and expensive Allopathic treatment centres when they themselves face medical problems. And they will be the first to insist that the Ayurvedic quacks that wield scalpels be kept at many arm’s lengths from themselves.
HYPOCRISY WRIT LARGE MR CHARI !!!
“Untold miseries are up ahead for the unsuspecting.”
Why do allopaths need to worry about safety of patients who go to ayurvaids? The public are big fans of RSS Modi Hindutva ideology so let them get the medical treatment that RSS thinks is best for them. Those who have the wherewithal and awareness will come to allopaths for surgery anyways.
If the cost of ayurvedic surgery is cheap and safe enough let public go for it. If they can have blind faith in Hindutva I don’t see a reason why they cannot have blind faith in our tradition medical systems too.
Let public get the medical treatment they voted for and suffer/enjoy the consequences for that.
It is very unlikely the government will listen to the IMA. Knowing their political strength, government will not budge an inch.
Let the author be the first patient to get operated on by an ayurvedic doctor. Please set up an example for others so that the general public decides whether it is a jugaad or not.
The author fails in understand the basic point which is patient safety. If the same continues, we are not far enough for a veterinary surgeon to start operating the humans with a slight modification in their syallabus . After all everyone is a mammal.
What a rotten article…
There is clearly defined path to practice …what you choose.
Mixopathy is a hazard…including..4 head and neck specialties in one…great boss
Does the writer what is evidence base medicine..
Does he know there are atleast 7 postgraduate subspecialty in just dentistry alone….and it takes atleast 9 yrs to be reasonably competent…
Bull shit is good…but not at the cost of somebody’s life
Dear BJP. For god sake, realize that there is an important element to any medicine. Research & Evidence. Dont make policies or statements without any research and evidence backing. Nothing proved to say that Indian traditional medicine boosted immunity against covid. some of the traditional practices such as homeopathy you think are not Indian tradition at all. Don’t mess everything. Listen to IMA, ICMR and AIIMS. Let the medical professional make health policies. We are not living in ayurvedic times. We are living in times where a vaccine is made within a year.
I will be damned the day I let an Ayurveda practitioner perform a surgery on me or my loved ones.
There is another form of “belief medicine” that thinks crushing the scales of a pangolin and consuming it can cure ED in men. 1.5million people have died in 2020 all over the world at its behest.
There are a lot of assumptions and misunderstandings in this writeup which appears to be an attempt to discredit the objections as just a professional rivalry or to protect commercial interest.
Lack of understanding of the basis of modern medicine or allopathy: it is based on science and on evidence. Even though alternative medicine practices including Ayurveda, Homeopathy will claim effectiveness of their medicines and treatment practices, the level of scientific evidence (please learn about it if you are unaware) is so low or non existent (e.g. for Homeopathy). However, if a traditional medicine or ayurvedic medicine has had enough evidence of effectiveness in a particular condition, it is accepted as a part of modern medicine.
The objection is not a turf war or protection of commercial interest but to protect the general public. If an ayurvedic surgeon perform an operation on a patient using ayurvedic anaesthesia and medicines and using their own surgical instruments and machines, ayurvedic techniques and wound care and all, probably it can be justified to some extent (even ignoring the risks and lack of evidence). However, there are no such things as ayurvedic anaesthesia. If they want to practice modern surgery without the modern allopathic training, that’s putting significant risks to the patients and potential for harms. There is a reason why pharmacists or nurses who are more trained and have more knowledge on modern allopathic medicines/procedures than alternative medicine practitioners are not allowed to prescribe medicines or do surgery. You ask yourself and answer truthfully, when you need an operation and have the choice of an allopathic surgeon and an ayurvedic surgeon, who will you choose?
I hope author and all those who are advocating Ayurveda as an alternative medicine refuse to take covid medicine and let others take it, I hope author announces publicly that he will always get treated with Ayurveda even if he is on last breath, it is nothing but gimmick of bjp and its cronies, all these leaders who suffered from covid got themselve treated by allopathy and in modern hospitals but when it come to poor citizens they bring all stupid idea
Not only Ayurveda, all the other AYUSH systems including Homeopathy borrow from each other and have common understanding when it comes to anatomy and physiology. Entire AYUSH system should be taught to all medical graduates belonging to any field. Already in India there are many Allopathic doctors who prescribe Homeopathic and Ayurvedic medicine in addition to Allopathic medicine to their patients. So why other systems doctors cannot do so? As regards surgery, a doctor belonging to any system of medicine can be trained in modern surgical procedures. These steps will not only drive down the cost of medical services in India but also address the shortage of trained doctors in the country. Even paramedical staff having sufficient experience should be trained in surgery and allowed to perform basic surgical procedures and practice surgery. Chari ji is right that this is a turf war and also a war of commercial interests.
… Already in India there are many Allopathic doctors who prescribe Homeopathic and Ayurvedic medicine in addition to Allopathic medicine to their patients. So why other systems doctors cannot do so? …
No practitioner of modern medicine would prescribe homeopathy or ayurvedic. If you have evidence please complain to the authorities. Otherwise this is just peddling fake news.
There are side effects in every drug. Without proper understanding and training in the science of modern medicine, even common drugs can harm a patient. Imagine a homeopath prescribing paracetamol for fever. Paracetamol can affect your liver if it is given long term. Does the homeopath understand how drugs are metabolised? Without the rigour and training in modern medicine, the homeopath’s allopathic prescription can do harm to the patient.
This is a poorly written and misleading article. The issue is not that ayurvedic doctors can’t do surgery. The issue is that the gazette notification empowers them to do specific surgeries of modern medicine, which are outside their field I. E ayurveda. For example, there is no problem if they treat sinus issues with their techniques. However the notice says that they can perform functional Endoscopic sinus surgery!
Another point, in modern medicine, ophthalmology is a 3 year postgraduate course, ENT a separate 3 year postgraduate course, dentistry an entirely separate stream. In the new ayurvedic degree, eye, ENT and dentistry are all combined into one 3year course! With the same practitioner being allowed to perform phaco emulsification for cataract, rhinoplasty for course, and tooth extraction! You decide if this is right or not.
It is just a backdoor entry to practise modern medicine surgical procedures using equipment of modern medicine but without the rigour and scientific foundations of modern medical science education.
It’s like you don’t need to be an engineer to
do repairs aon car. A mechanic can do the job just fine without knowing the physics of how an engine actually works. But in this case you are dealing with human lives. Even allopathic doctors botch up diagnosis and surgeries so I hope the Ayush lobby knows what are the consequences for patients especially the poor and in rural areas who don’t even know the difference between medicinal systems – they just go by blind faith in the doctor.
The author of this article has completely missed the point of the protests against this bill and seems to have been guided by personal biases. If practitioners of traditional or alternative systems of medicine wish to practice their own methods of medicine they should be allowed to do so. But they should not use allopathic methods, techniques and medicines and pass it off as their own!
The protests are against mixing these medical systems.
Exactly.
How do Ayurvedics give anaesthesia? Do they have any herbal medicines? If they are going to use drugs from modern medicine then it shows clearly that they are trying to encroach on turf of modern medicine practitioners with official government sanction without having foundation in modern science-based anaesthesiology.
Great!!
An article with no scientific backing. Just hearsay on nonsense like immune boosters, topped off with a headline intended to sensationalise. Didn’t expect this from you guys.
It’s nonsense to add bullockcart wheels to a modern car..ayurveda or any of these unani or homeo is rudimented, it does not use any scientific method for research, diagnosis or treatment. It just has someone written something in age old books which is used blindly. Yes it was the only medicine available in the age old times ,but you can’t use or apply it in this modern world ,where modern medicine has advanced to a point where we have hope to grow old even if we have a disease, all this happened after modern medicine, before that it was all natural selection..modern medicine is still an evolving way of medicine correcting and recorrecting itself to do good and no harm to none.
I would agree if one say it has adopted from ancient medicines…but it has also discarded whatever was unsafe, wrong and unnecessary of its own and of the ancient practices. …
This pandemic was not saved even by an iota by any of these ancient medicines as they claim….it’s being held together by the ardent efforts by the modern medicine world wide as a whole, by detection of the virus alerting appropriately and its containment and isolation , oxygen therapy, assisted ventilation care , and probable antiviral therapy, immunosuppressive therapy and hoping for a definite antiviral and vaccine … And as these quacks claim there is no immune boosters which are saving you, which is a big sales gimmick…if you get infected by the virus u become infected, asymptomatic or symptomatic , the consequences of symptomatic s are for another book and chapters on virology and immonology which ayurveda or any other form of medicine has ‘no any idea off’. So this pandemic was saved by masks and distancing and cleaning and will be saved by science and its advisories, the modern medicine ….so make modern medicine available.. In general it’s the modern medicine that explained, why we breathe and why the heart beat and why you can think with the brains you have….so that explains it all .
Yes. This could be a commercial fight for controlling surgeries. But let’s put our money where our mouth is.
Let RSS functionaries get their surgeries done by ayurveda surgery specialists. And then you will realise this is similar to fighting against English medium schools while sending your childerto the same ones.
I refer a true case study: my colleagu’s wife was diagonised by a MBBS doctor as jaundice patient and admitted in an hospital at Chennai. The hospital administration done all sorts of tests etc but unable to cure her. After a week she was unconscious and getting into coma stage. At the eleventh hour they told that they cannot save her. At this juncture as per recommendation of a friend a military retired homeopathy Doctor visited the patient as a friend and after going through the medical report that their wrongly diagonised her and suggested some homeopathy medicine for two days and assured she will be all right with in a week. When told about this to the hospital they objected it and after persuasion allowed to take the homeopathy medicine. To the surprise of the hospital doctors she came out of bed with in two days and fully recovered ina a week’s time. This has opened up our over dependence on allopathic treatment and understand that other forms of medical systems equally good. Infact in allopathic treatment side effects are there. The present government move to allow others to do surgery after due training will benefit people from villages. Health care must reach to all at a minimum cost is good for the nation.
One person whom I know had chronic fatigue syndrome for which there is no cure in allopathy but only management. Even modern medicine does not fully understand this chronic disease. He was on allopathic drugs for 2 years he was not happy that his condition was not improving much then he shifted to homeopathy. He died in 2 months after starting with homeopathic treatment. In this syndrome the electrical activity of the heart is disturbed so allopathic tests your heart rhythms and gives medicines for that. What do homeopathy doctors know about electrical activity of the heart? There are many such stories treatment horrors that never come out in public. Of course there are allopathic horrors as well no doubt due to incompetent doctors but at least you can get a second opinion in allopathy and rely on diagnostics.
As a patient don’t blindly trust your treatment. Understand the science behind the disease and the science behind the treatment. So that you can question your doctor whatever system it is and understand/manage your health condition better. Instead of blind faith. Then only you will know if you are taking a risk in treatment or not.
I can also quote a very recent case where one of my friend who recovered from COVID 19 but still have respiratory difficulties as after effect of the disease fed up with money he has to spend on allopathic (inherently its not allopathy medicine issue but the economic demand it has) met an Auyyrvedic Dr who gave him immunity booster without going through his medical reports. This resulted him being more tired and fluid collection in lungs. Actually the COVID has caused auto immune disease to my friend and the first thing to be done is to stop any immunity booster. After consulting with the allopathy Dr, he stopped the auyurvedic medicine and he gained back his health after that. So, don’t blindly believe in anything by seeing one case.
The problem with Ayurveda /Siddha is belief rather than science with the practitioners and promise cure for everything without knowing the disease.
What the Ayurvedic was doing is what one calls “shooting in the dark, hoping the bullet hits the target”. The Dr was probably thinking the Covid virus was still replicating. In post Covid the virus replication phase is over and the intense immune system response phase after the viral replication phase has damaged the lungs so the lungs need time to heal and come back to normalcy. In some cases the immune system response remains upregulated which therefore needs to be dampened with steroids. This shows clearly that without a firm understanding in the medical science of what a virus is, how a virus enters your cells, how long the virus replicates until the immune system detects it and the duration of the immune response phase aided with relevant diagnostics like blood reports and scans , trying to treating a patient blindly using incomplete knowledge from any type of doctor be it Allopathic or Ayush could only cause more harm than heal.
This is a fairy tale made up story. Unless evidence is provided and details are known it is not verifiable in the realm of evidence based medicine.
A homeopath predicting someone can come out of coma in a week’s time ? I am not fooled by it but I know millions of Indians can be easily fooled by these kinds of stories. No evidence required. We are after all a nation of believers, right?
This write-up by Chari is utterly non-sensical. We do agree Ayurveda as an alternative medicine to be taken orally. Actually, it should be qualified through experiments that the drug works not through placebo. Next, the Government cannot expose innocent people to its experiments. First, it should stop its ministers from rushing to AIIMs for treatment. When BJP thinks Ayurveda is great and cure for all, all it ministers should take it without aid of AIIMS. They should in no way be allowed to go for allopathy.
Next, Chary is ageing, he should get his cataract operations done with Ayurvedic Surgeons he is proposing. So also his colleagues. When the cadre pressurizes something, the P.M. takes decision. It is not his fault. This absurd cadre should be barred from taking allopathy for all their illnesses. Even if the BJP forcibly throws its laws on people, we the people, will seek to declare by label whether so…so doctor is an allopathic surgeon or not. We will have the choice. Perhaps, Chari is aspiring for some bigger post in the cabinet to write all this stuff.
This government is planning an “integrated” medical buffoon’s course by 2030 where modern medical students will be taught ayurveda and can prescribe ayurvedic medicines ! What is the point in studying all that physics and chemistry and statistics in school and doing a MBBS degree in college for which the actual foundation is the scientific method based progress in medicine and surgery in last 100-150 years.
Today with this notification (I am not waiting for 2030) I hope as a patient I will have rights to ask the doctor who is performing my surgery what is he/she qualified in which medical system training he/she has had. While this notification will make more impact in rural areas, I don’t want to become a guinea pig just because allopathic private hospital businesses try to cut corners in urban areas.
Your are a dense incompetent idiot who has no place to talk about this issue, your opinions are clouded by your political beliefs and like your political beliefs make no sense
Please give value to the Indian medicine AYURVEDA WE ARE joined to the BAMS TROUGH ENTRANCE TEST WITH BEST STATE RANK ONLY AND WE EQUALLY STUDYING THE MODERN MEDICINE ALSO AS PER OUR CCIM SYLLABUS PLSE ENCOURAGE AYURVEDA THIS IS OUR MOTHER
Madam, I have a good idea of what your syllabus contains. It barely covers 1% of anatomy & physiology of what we have covered. I have dealt with duty doctors from AYUSH streams trying allopathic medicines. In 8 months of work in corporate hospital, they refuse to follow orders, they mislead patients saying diabetes got cured and nearly ended up killing some of my patients. I quit the job whatever the salary they give.
The local RSS hospital is mostly run by duty doctors from AYUSH stream. They do not have a single allopathic physician because everyone refuses to work with AYUSH because they really lack rudimentary knowledge of the basis of modern science itself let alone modern medicine.
You are free to follow your specialty. Build your own hospitals and take responsibility of 24 hrs care along with ICU whether you use modern scientific equipment & medicines or not we don’t care but please do not mix up with us and trap us in legal cases by harming patients and do not send your patients to use. We are tired of hearing patients undergoing AYUSH treatment and coming to us when it is too late and harassing us throughout day and night to do something.
By the way, there is no separate entrance exam for AYUSH branches. Those who chose AYUSH branches are usually those who get last ranks. Everyone knows how much the last rankers score. So, don’t bullshit. This bullshit itself is indicative of how much you lie and mislead patients and Modiji calls modern medicine doctors thieves & anti-national without even convicting a single modern medicine doctor.
By the way, for your kind information, if BJP & RSS & other Sangh Parivar believe so much in AYUSH medicine, how come so many of them have died from COVID? How come Haryana minister Anil Vij joined as a volunteer for COVAXIN trials and got the vaccine even before it was approved How come so many Sangh parivar supporting bureaucrats have enrolled in COVID vaccine trials in all states if they believe that AYUSH can cure their diseases?
Venkaiah Naidu & his wife take modern medicines. He is from my place. Nitin Gadkari, ARun Jaitley & Sushma Swaraj all have undergone allopathic treatments.
Don’t you see the hypocrisy here? They do not care about the common man. They are only bothered about their own political power. They know for a fact that AYUSH does not work. Many RSS people are my patients on a regular basis.
If they really believe it to be so, let them build a superspecialty AYUSH hospital and get complete treatment over there & not AIIMS. But, they can force modern medicine doctors to attend to them because they are politicians & goondas. The common man & the poor man will only get frustrated with this confusion and there will be more violence against all forms of doctors which has anyway risen during the BJP regime as it is.
If you are studying modern medicine subjects in your Ayurveda UG degree then you are being manipulated by the government to do backdoor entry to practise modern medicine.
These are two irreconcilable systems of medicine but the Ayush lobby is trying to achieve it’s mission because it has the political backing behind it.
Assuming you are studying modern medicine textbooks in your degree and there is rigour in how you are tested in knowledge of modern medicine:
Can your ayurvedic diagnoses and treatments be explained with modern medicine pharmacokinetics and diagnostics?
For same disease which medicine will you prescribe : ayurvedic or drugs of modern medicine? For same disease how can there be two explanatory causes – one based on doshas/pittas the other based on say biochemistry/physiology/pathology? Is this logical?
Can you scientifically explain the concept of doshas or pittas in terms of pathology or histology or biochemistry or physiology or cell biology?
I see confusion in all of this mixed knowledge…it seems ayurveda as a profession does not fully have confidence in their own tradition.
If Ayurvada is so good, why do ministers go to the best allopathic hospitals for treatment? Obviously, they know the truth about Ayurveda. Nevertheless, driven by a political agenda of the good old Hindutva, they want to give a legitimacy to Ayurveda by giving its practitioners a backdoor entry into the Allopathic system.
I’d love to see the author get a surgery from an ayurvedic “doctor”.
Another hypocritical article written by Seshadri Chari which exposes his own political ideology more than expressing scientific vigour
The hilarious aspect of this piece is that most of our Union Ministers including Amit Shah etc, will stay at AIIMS and recieve allopathic medicines and get operated on surgeons which are MBBS graduates rather than BAMS
And if such improvement is required in the medical system why not impose the 2 year rural bond on AYUSH graduates rather than MBBS ones
Or try to increase MBBS seats first?
Cannot expect much from such sanghis.. Why don’t we let local mestris to apply for jobs reserved for engineers? As it is we are poor country with third rate roads, bridges, medical infra.. Amd this will screw it further
I think we simply require more doctors for our population. Healthcare have multiple approaches and they need to thrive simultaneously. I have seen some cases where best results are achieved by cross branch integration. There are limitations of each branch as well, hence it is not fair to “limit” procedures to only A branch.
Urban people still have some options but as you move away from urban areas for conducting processes availability of professionals is very limited. We cannot deny the access to process when a professional can be skilled to perform such processes.
Further, education in allopathy is abysmally costly making, medical professionals of low income group almost impossible. This can be brought down only by matching some kind of demand supply.
It is easy to see logic in IMA but needs of citizens are more urgent.
In medical world dealing with human life quality is more important than quantity.
A headache can be due to tension or it can be due to cancer.
I don’t have a problem of Ayurvedic surgeons doing anaesthesia and surgeries as per their system. Don’t use modern medicine drugs and surgical devices to do surgery by ayurvedic when ayurvedic don’t know physics chemistry anatomy and physiology of it (let alone about cells, molecules and microbes) and the basis for disease is understood by ayurvedic differently from modern medicine which is based on the scientific method.