A new hazard of medicine
BMJ 2002; 324 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7344.1045 (Published 27 April 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;324:1045All rapid responses
Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed. Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles. The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not including references and author details. We will no longer post responses that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
MEDICAL PRACTITONERS ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES IN PAKISTAN ESPECIALY
IN KARACHI.WE,IN FACT, CAN SAY IT "A NEW HAZARD IN MEDICINE".HUNDREDS OF
DOCTORS HAVE KILLED HERE DURING THE LAST FEW YEARS OUT OF WHICH MAJORITY
BELONGED TO SHIA SECT OF ISLAM.IT MEANS WE ARE BITING THOSE HANDS WHICH
FEED US.
MORE THAN 300 DOCTORS WERE KILLED IN A SPAN OF LAST FEW YEARS WITH A
SHARP RISE IN EARLY 2002,OF THOSE MAJORITY WERE SHIA MUSLIMS.
I PERSONALY BELONG TO SHIA SECT OF ISLAM AND HAVE TARGETED TO KILL
TWICE IN PAST BY PRO-TALIBAN TYPE OF BIGOTED FANATICS ON THE BASIS OF
RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM.ONCE ON 16TH JUNE 1994,IN WHICH I WAS VERY SERIOUSLY
INJURED AND
BECAME PARALYSED DUE TO SPINAL CORD INJURY AT THE LEVIL OF T11-
T12,SECONDLY ON 30TH JANUARY 2002,WHILE I WAS DOING MEDICAL PRACTICE ON
WHEEL CHAIR IN THIS PARALYSED CONDITION.VERY LUCKILY,WITH THE GRACE OF
GOD,I SURVIVED IN
BOTH ATTACKS AND THIS IS FACT THAT I AM THE ONLY PAKISTANI SHIA DOCTOR WHO
TARGETTED TO KILL TWICE IN THE NAME OF RELIGION AND SURVIVED.
THROUGH THIS "POSTER" I WANT TO DRAW THE ATTENTION OF ALL SOCIETY OF
THIS WORLD AND ESPECIALY THE PARTICIPANTS OF THIS IMI-INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE TOWARDS THIS BLOODY GAME OF KILLING INNOCENT "SHIA MUSLIM
DOCTORS" DUE TO LACK OF RESOURCES OF COLLECTING EXACT FIGURE OF SHAHEED
DOCTORS,I
AM HERE GIVING THE NAME OF SOME SHIA MUSLIM DOCTORS WHO ARE KILLED BY
BIGOTED FANATICS OR RELIGIOUS MILLITANTS IN KARACHI DURING THE LAST FEW
YEARS:
1.DR.ABUL QASIM JEEVA IN 1994 IN KARACHI.
2.DR.MUHAMMAD ALI IN 1994 IN KARACHI.
3.DR.SYED ZULFIQAR HAIDER IN 1994 IN KARACHI
4.DR.KAUSER ALI ZAIDI IN 1994 IN KARACHI
5.DR.NADEEM HASAN AMROHVI IN 1994 IN KARACHI.
6.DR.MUHAMMAD HUSSAIN IN 1995 IN KARACHI.
7.HAHEEM BAQAR HUSSAIN IN 1995 IN KARACHI.
8.DR.SYED ALIJAH JAFRI IN 1995 IN KARACHI.
9.DR.PERVAIZ AKHTER NAQVI IN 1996 IN KARACHI.
10.DR. SHAKIR ALI IN 1997 IN KARACHI.
11.DR.SYED JAFFER ABBAS JAFRI IN 1997 IN KARACHI.
12.DR.SYED IQTIDAR SAJID NAQVI IN1997 IN KARACHI.
13.DR.ANISUL HASAN RIZVI IN 1997 IN KARACHI.
14.DR.MANSOOR HUSSAIN IN 1997 IN KARACHI.
15.DR.NAYYAR HUSAIN ZAIDI IN 2000 IN KARACHI.
16.DR.MEHTAB KAZMI IN 2000 IN KARACHI.
17.DR.KARAMAT HUSAIN IN 2000 IN KARACHI.
18.DR.SIBTAIN DOSSA IN 2000 IN KARACHI.
19.DR.MUHAMMAD RAZA PEERANI IN 2001 IN KARACHI.
20.DR.ASAD BUKHARI IN 2001 IN KARACHI.
21.DR.RAZA MEHDI JAFRI IN 2001 IN KARACHI.
22.DR.ZAHID HUSSAIN IN 2001 IN KARACHI.
23.DR.MUZAFFER ALI SAMMOO IN 2002 IN KARACHI.
24.DR.SYED ALAY SAFDAR ZAIDI IN 2002 IN KARACHI.
25.DR.SYED RASHID MEHDI IN 2002 IN KARACHI.
26.DR.SYED ATHAR HUSAIN RIZVI WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED IN 2002 IN
KARACHI.
27.DR.SYED MUJAVIR ALI RIZVI WAS VICTIMIZED TWICE AND SERIOUSLY
INJURED IN BOTH ATTACKS,ONCE IN 1994 IN KARACHI(IN WHICH HE BECAME
VIRTUALY INVALID DUE TO PARALYSIS)AND SECONDLY IN JANUARY 2002 IN
KARACHI WHILE HE WAS RUNNING HIS CLINIC ON WHEEL CHAIR IN PARALYSED
CONDITION.
28.RECENTLY A FAMOUS CARDIAC SURGEON,DR.SYED AZIZ JAMAL NAQVI WAS
SERIOUSLY INJURED BY SOME RELIGIOUS MILLITANTS IN KARACHI WHOSE ULNAR
NERVE WAS DAMAGED DUE TO BULLET INJURY AS I HEARD.
29.A FAMOUS PATHOLOGIST PROF.DR.SYED ALAY HASAN ZAIDI WAS ALSO
SERIOUSLY INJURED FEW YEARS BACK DUE TO SIMILAR ATTACK IN KARACHI.
The Amnesty international and the Human rights organization are aware of
these killings and I hope that they will do some constructive move to save
the lives of those who are left alive.
_____________________________________________________________
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Mr Editor,
I am writing this in response to Dr Shafqat's view on the killings of
doctors in Karachi who were mostly belonged to a particular sect of Islam.
These doctors were killed because they were easily identified by their
names and places they used to work. Their families suffered a lot and they
developed hatred for these killers who thinks that killing anyone belongs
to this particular sect (shiite) will be the key to paradise . Having such
thoughts and ideology is unacceptable and it is not the true
representation of Islam.I must say at this point that it is the same
ideology which the former Taliban regime of Afghanistan had.I cannot
imagine that doctors are being killed because of their beliefs but not
praised for what they are doing.
I was trained in the same institution where Dr Shafqat is working in
Karachi now and I have lost so many of my friends ,colleagues, college
fellows in this recent wave of killings. I have met their families and
children who are in a miserable condition. The children have gone through
intense pain which can affect their upbringing. Killing an earning member
of the family means you have killed the whole family. They would develop
such feelings for the killers which are not good for them in future.
My house was targeted twice in my abscence from karachi and now I am
working in this country for the last three years and unable to go back
because I know that I would be killed. I gave up my career in Pakistan and
decided to stay in this country for the rest of my life. There are so many
doctors working in UK who were targetted in Karachi and they had to run
away overnight leaving their families behind.I feel sad for leaving my
country too but did not have any choice.
I was the lucky one who got an opportunity to come abroad. There are so
many who are waiting to be killed or leave the country. The governments
overseas have neither considered this problem as a reason to apply for
the asylum nor have they any soft corner for them.A lot of doctors who
fled the country were refused to stay abroad on asylum.
I hope that the present regime in Pakistan will deal with this problem,
provide help to the families of the victims and reassure doctors to stay
there. As far as I know, no security has been provided to any doctor
within karachi from the state and it is a great loss for the country that
its intellectuals are leaving it.
I hope that all the doctors from my country would agree with me.
Dr A. Zaidi
Clinical Research Fellow
University of Hull
U.K.
Competing interests: No competing interests
The article “A new hazard of medicine” by Saad Shafqat deeply moved
me and filled me with grief.
Has world come to this? People are gunning down doctors who commit
all their life to save others!
Doctors are strong pillars of society, who not only commit their life
to save the health of people, but also frequently guide society in the
right direction. It is too bad that some people are gunning down such good
people, who contribute a lot to strengthen the foundation of any society.
It is really very sad that the doctors are facing such a dreadful
time. May God protect them from evil. I pray for their safety.
But are prayers the solution to this problem? Can the worldwide
community of doctors help their friends in need who are presently
suffering such a dreadful time?
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: A new hazard of medicine
Dr Syed Raza
MD, MRCP (UK), CCT(UK)
Cardiologist and Acute Physician
Awali Hospital, Bahrain
sms_raza@yahoo.co.uk
A physician’s greatest happiness lies in treating the sick and needy and a simple ‘thank you’ is what the physician is looking for and thinks is the ultimate reward. Physician enjoys most is a healthy and professional patient-physician relationship. Assembly-line medicine however undermines this relationship.
Doctors are expected to work 24/7. They are not expected to take long breaks or holidays. Most doctors are burned out, overworked, or exhausted. Many doctors spend little time with their families and find no time for social engagements. Workaholics are admired in medicine and because medicine values competition over nurturing, therefore many doctors function in survival mode. Caring for sick people can make physicians sick themselves. Even then they do not ask for help because for a physician a cry for help is weakness. This makes doctors feel powerless and trapped. Some see no alternatives to their suffering.
Physicians are supposed to be nation’s social safety net with few resources to help patients. Some doctors feel like indentured slaves. They need to perform at their best no matter how tiered and weak the doctor himself or herself is. Doctors are meant to save lives and death is perceived as failure. Doctors often get bullied by their employers, the managers, insurance companies, law firms and sadly enough at times also by their own patients.
We are trained to be hard skinned from the Day 1 in the medical school. Medical education means only hard work where there is no room for pleasure. Medical education often dissociates mind from body and spirit. Some medical students believe they graduate with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Seeing too much pain and not enough joy in early years of career is unhealthy. The reductionist medical model is therefore dehumanizing for patient and physician.
Many doctors’ especially male physicians are emotionally detached. We are all made to believe that if we do not sustain the stress and the brunt, then we are not fit enough to be doctors and should be out of the system. We do become a ‘flock of sheep’ at the mercy of external forces to meet reasonable and unreasonable demands. In other words we learn to live in a world where ‘survival of the fittest’ is the rule and we are ready to take it all whether we like it or not.
Someone has rightly said that doctors are the worst as far as seeking help is concerned but the poor busy doctor has no time to seek help.
Doctors are after all also human beings. They also have the same problems as everyone else. Doctors have marital discord and they get divorced too. Doctors have economic hardship and unbearable debt. It is not uncommon to see doctors falling prey to drugs and alcoholism. The doctors are one of the most vulnerable groups of professional and there is high prevalence of mental illness amongst doctors. Doctors are obsessive-compulsive perfectionists in an imperfect medical system. Sadly enough statistics show that there is high incidence of suicide rate amongst doctors.
The mass and the media have a mental picture of a doctor who is always a happy go lucky dog, someone who has a satisfying career and is minting a lot of money. Sadly enough, this is always not the true picture. The other side of the story is not revealed and the worse is never seen. At least some degree of tolerance and sympathy should be shown towards a doctor. This is the least he or she is asking for.
I am a doctor and I am a human too!
Competing interests: No competing interests