![]() ![]() Why are we encountering this situation so often? The presence of acquaintances with half-baked knowledge whose prime interest is to provide unsolicited advice based on their whims and fallacies further confuses the relatives. The bewildered relatives are seen struggling to arrange for finances to ensure continuation of care in a private hospital versus trying to arrange a bed in a government-run ICU. The timing of such question usually coincides with the patient not improving clinically, families facing financial crunch, and unpredictability looming large over the short-term and long-term expected outcome. A critically ill patient by virtue of his clinical status, further complicated by multiorgan dysfunction and use of sedatives to keep him comfortable, is often perceived by the relatives as dead and being kept on life support systems only to mint money. In our country, it is a common misconception that ventilator means “end of life” and a person on ventilator is almost “expected” to die sooner or later. In fact, the relatives literally mean – “We hope you are not keeping a dead patient on life supports.” The question is popping up more often than not and shows the change in the perception of the general public toward our profession. ![]() “Is my patient still alive?” is the question, which my team is being routinely asked. Every intensivist would agree to have confronted the above-mentioned scenarios and the ever-increasing ire of anxious, nontrusting attendants. The ICUs are among the costliest and deal with the sickest patient in the hospital. Our fraternity, despite working hard, has lost the faith of the common man. The dark clouds of mistrust loom low and everyone seems to have serious doubts about the integrity of the noblest profession. The corporate healthcare has especially been under the scanner and is witnessing one of its worst phases. Healthcare in India has gone through a phenomenal change in the last two decades. ![]()
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