Aug 26, 2002


My cavalier attitude towards pills took a jolt. I am telling you, you better finish that course of antibiotics that the doctor prescribed; otherwise, you will also be contributing to drug resistant strains of bacteria. That link is also a good read for ye Indian moms dwelling in the US of A, complaining incessantly to others in every party about how American doctors don't give enough medicines for your sick babies, about how they 'callously' ask you to ride your child's fever for the initial three or four days.

Not that the Indian doctors are all indiscriminate. They have to face a populace which is terribly suspicious of them. I have seen folks buying only 75 percent of a course of medicine, dismissing the rest as unnecessary (especially since they start feeling better after that); they also give a lecture about the nexus between pharmacists, labs and doctors. "The doctor gets kickbacks", they would declare. The worst part is sometimes that is also true!

August 26, 2002