High fees, unnecessary investigations, prescription of expensive medicines and giving patients less hearing by qualified doctors force them to visit quacks.
A study of new graduates of MBBS showed that quackery doctors, professors and other qualified doctors and authorised medical practitioners were responsible for promoting the quackery in the country because they are fleecing the poor people and they have increased their fees from Rs 200 to Rs 300 and professors had increased their fees from Rs 300 to Rs 500.
The study further showed that all patients who visited quacks had first consulted qualified doctors. However, they complained that since doctors do not listen to them, charge high fee, order a number of investigations, and prescribe very expensive medicines, the only option left for them is to see quacks. More than 80 percent of patients expressed satisfaction with the care that they were provided by quacks.
New graduates inferred that a majority of patients who visit quacks are those whom doctors fail to satisfy. "If doctors start seeing patients to their satisfaction, quackery will die its own death," they stated. The presenter proposed that social and behavioural sciences should not be merely taught but also practised by doctors during their undergraduate and postgraduate training. The study said hospital or biomedical waste should be managed under a comprehensive waste management plan encompassing segregation, collection, transport, storage and disposal. Training and supervision of all healthcare workers involved in the generation and disposal of hospital waste is essential for the success of such a plan.