K. R. Sethuraman
14 Quackery The Quack Frog: Once a frog came out of the marshy land and croaked aloud, "I
am an erudite physician. I have a divine gift. I possess many unique remedies. I
can cure any type of disease that you have.� Many gullible animals succumbed to
the sales-talk. But a fox with his critical faculty intact challenged the frog, "You, a healer! You can't even cure your own weak legs and wrinkled skin."
Nath was a glib tongued villager who used to "cure" all sorts of ailments. You can't
fool all the people all the time and soon the villagers ceased to seek his advice. He
decided to try his luck in the city. He ran an advertising blitz in the health magazines and
gave interviews. A smart media person asked him, "If your system is as great as you claim, how is it that no villager consults you?"
Comments Like politics, health care has also become the last refuge for many scoundrels. Quacks like
Nath, make hay while the society is ready to 'consume' with a great enthusiasm, any old dogma that is unearthed. Bernard Shaw had a lot to say on this: "The condition of the
medical profession is so scandalous that unregistered medical practitioners obtain higher fees and are more popular with educated patients than registered ones. In short, private
medical practice is governed not by science but by supply and demand; and however scientific a treatment may be, it cannot hold its place in the market if there is no demand for it; nor can grossest quackery be kept off the market if there is a demand for it." 44
