Prescribing doom
An International Medical Commission-Bhopal survey of prescriptions collected from patients of the Bhopal Memorial Trust Hospital (BMTH) in 1998 and 1999, showed that analgesics, antibiotics, vitamins, tonics, antacids and antihistamines comprised the treatment since 1984. Expensive eye drops were prescribed for dryness of the eyes, though plain saline solution would have worked equally well. 66.3 percent of the prescriptions did not describe symptoms; 16.6 percent described the symptoms in only a few words, while only 17.1 per cent properly penned down symptoms along with a diagnosis. Very often the medicines prescribed are not available in hospitals and patients have to buy them from the market. "It is quite normal to spend a major part of our income on medicines and doctors,' says Mool Chand Raikwar, a victim living in J P Nagar.
Rashida Bee, president of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Karamchari Sangh, points out another scam