Mixopathy: Why care?

What is Mixopathy?

In this case,you are mixing different systems of medicines.

A person trained in different system of medicine is given a quick training to practice modern Allopathic medicine.

In this case an Ayurveda surgeon is given a two years training to perform fifty plus surgeries in the branches of General surgery,Orthopedic,Eye and ENT.A single doctor practicing all systems of medicine together(Allopathy,Ayurveda,Homeopathy,etc.).

How Mixopathy will affect you?

It is aimed to lower the initial costs of giving access to health care to all Indians. But people with deep pockets will have a choice. The common man, however, will have no choice. Slowly as the system gets more riddled with a lack of appreciation of quality medical care, there will be more brain drain.

I am vocal for Made in India and Universal Healthcare. I would love to know how Doctors in Ayurveda perform surgery using traditional means. But taking the backdoor and shortcut to public health is a sure recipe for disaster.

India’s backbone of healthcare is breaking with each such step. Anything which has no transparent scientific research to back claims is futile. A society where quality is not appreciated, is a society walking on the path of no return.

What is the problem with mixopathy?

There are no scientific data available on the safety, efficacy and quality of such healthcare mixups. A search on Pubmed will give you some idea about the gaps in data.

Interesting fact:Ayush Minister was treated with Allopathic medicine when he suffered from COVID19 infection.

Have Ayush doctors qualified in MBBS NEET?

No.

What NEET has they qualified for?

It’s Ayush NEET where seats are reserved for Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani, Homeopathy,(BAMS/BSMS/BUMS/BHMS).

What drugs and instruments are being used for Ayurvedic anaesthesia and surgery?

Can NEET Ayush doctors take entrance in MBBS Colleges?

Not through NEET Ayush scores, but NEET-UG Scores.

Do Ayush postgraduates and Allopathic surgeons take the same common entrance exam? No 

Then how can their qualification be deemed equal? It’s like comparing Brinjal and strawberries. Both could be significant, but they are different and cannot be cooked in the same dish!

Does Ayurveda have an equivalent to microscope and endoscopes for doing eye, ear and other microsurgeries? If they plan to use modern medical instruments claiming all Ayurveda, they do a great disservice to our countrymen and both branches of medicine.

Devaluing quality education will haunt the Government. The public suffers from such schemes are planned in the health and education sectors. 

In many state Government education systems, primary and secondary education is free with midday meals and boons for passing exams. When you look at the quality of students passing out, it’s sad. Many are neither able to write coherent sentences in their mother tongue, let along any other language. Such a workforce is worrying.

That’s the same road mixopathy in healthcare will take.

Accessible and quality first. Then comes the economics. If the last one is brought to the forefront, then mixopathy happens!

Nothing free is sustainable. 

There is a proposal to mix the Indigenous medical system and Modern Medicine.

They have read modern medical books and now talking about Ayurveda surgery being equivalent to Modern Surgery. There are stories and fables of a situation like this.

Remember, they want to use Modern Anaesthetic drugs, machines, surgical instruments and tools. They will

In this case, the Government has conducted no trials seeing the effect of a mixture of two groups of medicines. Plants have active ingredients, too and mixing everything up will cause chaos.

The Government has conducted no studies about the success rates, complications etc., of surgeries done in Ayush hospitals. Such data is not in the public domain due to some privacy clause.

That data should be released. Randomized control trial comparing Ayush surgery and modern surgical results will help us go forward in a science-backed manner. Data about Ayush surgeries without using the help of modern medicine that’s what is needed.

A few studies are available on PubMed comparing Ayurvedic surgery and Modern surgery for fistula in-ano. But none for any other surgeries.No mention of anaesthesia used in these procedures are available.

Questions that need answering about Mixopathy

How many Politicians, MPs, MLA’s, senior Government officials pushing for this mixopathy are willing to sign up for human trials comparing these two branches of surgery and their results.-How many people have Politicians have undergone surgeries in the last ten years by Modern surgeons and by Ayurveda surgeons? 

What kind of Anaesthesia was given during these Ayurveda surgeries?

What kind of Postoperative infection management was done, and with what drugs? Antibiotics and modern Allopathic medicines or Ayurveda herbs etc.

Why doesn’t Ayurveda use its principles, own instruments and own medicines for treatment and surgery? If this continues, the biggest loses will be the people’s health. Giving people a choice is always an option but making unequal look equal is a recipe for disaster.

All this needs to be in the public domain before this happens. 

Conclusion:

Science needs facts and figures, not conjectures. There lies the fallacy of the current situation. I am sure there are books and more in libraries across India talking about ancient ayurvedic surgery. But we need a comparison; we need to have evidence-based medicine as a rule, not as an afterthought.That’s what gives credibility.

Indian Medical association proudly acknowledge, appreciate and welcome rich traditional treasures of Indian medicine like Ayurveda.But dedicated research, and replicable evidenced-based science is needed.Not shortcuts to earn profits at the cost of human lives.

Otherwise the “oops” moment will have a high price.

More Reading:

Why IMA is against Mixopathy, you must read this article to know the real concerns.

IMA statement 

Sign this petition to help build a healthy India.