BY DEVIKA C. MEHTA
LOS ANGELES, CA - “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”Following the principles of Mahatma Gandhi is Dr. M.R. Rajagopal or “Dr. Raj” as he is known to patients and colleagues alike, the global patients rights advocate who is also a nominee...
LOS ANGELES, CA - “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”Following the principles of Mahatma Gandhi is Dr. M.R. Rajagopal or “Dr. Raj” as he is known to patients and colleagues alike, the global patients rights advocate who is also a nominee...
for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. Currently, Dr. Raj is on a five-week North American speaking tour that include stops in Toronto, Kingston, ON, Ottawa, New York, Columbus, OH, Madison, WI, San Diego, San Francisco, Stanford, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Washington DC, Seattle, Victoria, BC, Vancouver, Houston and Atlanta. In conjunction with Dr. Raj’s presentations at prestigious medical centers, screenings will be held throughout the US of a new documentary feature film called `Hippocratic’, a powerful biographical film about Dr. Raj which reveals the challenges of delivering healthcare in low-resource settings, the tragedy of unnecessary suffering, but also the opportunity and empowerment of delivering ethical, whole-person care through a grassroots movement.
A small man with big dreams, Dr. Raj who is Chairman- Pallium india and Director, Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences, wants a pain-free world in which modern medicine around the globe will employ ethical practice through whole person care and universal access to essential – but heavily restricted – pain medication. In his words, “More than 30 years after its birth in India, palliative care is still in its early stages and is either not known or understood except in the state of Kerala. It is still going through an unhealthy stage of prolonged infancy but I hope that it will grow gradually and reach out to different parts of world.”
His story began when as a medical student the doctor witnessed a lot of suffering around him which was even ignored by medical practitioners and peers. His journey was not easy and was filled with hardships. His first confrontation with untreated pain happened as a medical student when his first cousin was dying, in terrible pain, and his relatives were at a loss as to what to do. This led to his shift from anaesthesiology to becoming a palliative care physician in the mid-1980s, amongst the first in India. Later, he set up several palliative care providers throughout northern Kerala, which is now widely recognized as the most successful community-based palliative care program in the world. Soon, in 1993, he founded the Pain and Palliative Care Society in the Medical College, Calicut which was later recognized as a model demonstration project by the World Health Organization.
Talking about his chosen path, Dr. Raj mentioned, “I made it my life work to treat persons experiencing high levels of pain and suffering from disease and trauma in Kerala, and far beyond. In addition to carrying an enormous clinical load in the palliative care services I developed, my prime focus was on overcoming the regulatory and system-related barriers to the delivery of effective pain relief and humane end-of-life care.”
Making a point, Dr. Rajagopal pointed, “Healthcare must be healthcare, today it is not, the system has become mechanical, doctors are confused about their primary purposes. They will have to free themselves from the clutches of the healthcare industry. Unless industry shares this message of compassion, this revolution will not start. I am still waiting for that revolution.”
His uplifting message to the world is: “I am too small a fly to change the way the medical system functions now, but that cannot justify inaction.. There comes a time when every medical professional faces corruption whether or not they recognize it. There we can strike a middle course- a course in which we do no personal or professional destruction but are still able to draw some ethical lines of practice. I personally can do one thing that the young professional cannot- that is I can keep talking to the young minds. I hope someday a body of professionals will emerge who will be brave to say ‘enough is enough’”.
“We all should remember that life is more than plain existence; it is the ability to think act and find enjoyment in the process of living. I believe that this is the sort of life we should get our patients to enjoy,” he concluded.
A small man with big dreams, Dr. Raj who is Chairman- Pallium india and Director, Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences, wants a pain-free world in which modern medicine around the globe will employ ethical practice through whole person care and universal access to essential – but heavily restricted – pain medication. In his words, “More than 30 years after its birth in India, palliative care is still in its early stages and is either not known or understood except in the state of Kerala. It is still going through an unhealthy stage of prolonged infancy but I hope that it will grow gradually and reach out to different parts of world.”
His story began when as a medical student the doctor witnessed a lot of suffering around him which was even ignored by medical practitioners and peers. His journey was not easy and was filled with hardships. His first confrontation with untreated pain happened as a medical student when his first cousin was dying, in terrible pain, and his relatives were at a loss as to what to do. This led to his shift from anaesthesiology to becoming a palliative care physician in the mid-1980s, amongst the first in India. Later, he set up several palliative care providers throughout northern Kerala, which is now widely recognized as the most successful community-based palliative care program in the world. Soon, in 1993, he founded the Pain and Palliative Care Society in the Medical College, Calicut which was later recognized as a model demonstration project by the World Health Organization.
Talking about his chosen path, Dr. Raj mentioned, “I made it my life work to treat persons experiencing high levels of pain and suffering from disease and trauma in Kerala, and far beyond. In addition to carrying an enormous clinical load in the palliative care services I developed, my prime focus was on overcoming the regulatory and system-related barriers to the delivery of effective pain relief and humane end-of-life care.”
Making a point, Dr. Rajagopal pointed, “Healthcare must be healthcare, today it is not, the system has become mechanical, doctors are confused about their primary purposes. They will have to free themselves from the clutches of the healthcare industry. Unless industry shares this message of compassion, this revolution will not start. I am still waiting for that revolution.”
His uplifting message to the world is: “I am too small a fly to change the way the medical system functions now, but that cannot justify inaction.. There comes a time when every medical professional faces corruption whether or not they recognize it. There we can strike a middle course- a course in which we do no personal or professional destruction but are still able to draw some ethical lines of practice. I personally can do one thing that the young professional cannot- that is I can keep talking to the young minds. I hope someday a body of professionals will emerge who will be brave to say ‘enough is enough’”.
“We all should remember that life is more than plain existence; it is the ability to think act and find enjoyment in the process of living. I believe that this is the sort of life we should get our patients to enjoy,” he concluded.
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