Date:18/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/18/stories/2008081855271003.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Whither humanity?

I felt a sense of déjÀ vu on reading Jenni Russell’s article “No humanity in just following procedure” (Aug. 15). Was not something similar happening in my own field of medical practice? Good old clinical medicine is in its last days, if not already dead. Technology, instead of being our servant, has become our master. It is proving to be a curse. Personal interaction between a doctor and patient is gradually being relegated to the background. Procedures have taken precedence. We have become human automatons who just cannot shake off the invisible strings of puppetry. The very devices we thought were time-savers have created a paucity of time.

Dr. K. Ahmed Anwar,

Perintalmana