Excessive tests, meds, hospitalisation: Docs flag in open letter

MUMBAI: The ongoing third Covid wave in India, like the two previous ones, is characterised by unwarranted testing, medication and hospitalisations, said a group of 35 distinguished doctors from across the country and abroad. In an open letter, they have appealed to the central and state health authorities to stop these “unwarranted” practices and promote evidence-based medicine.

One of the signatories, Dr Sanjay Nagral from Jaslok Hospital, told TOI: “There was a need to say that we are overdoing it — be it with respect to Covid treatment, testing or hospitalisation. This letter is an effort by some doctors to state we don’t agree with some of the practices.”

The letter, signed by a few Indian-origin doctors from Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities in the US, said the “mistakes of the 2021 response” were being repeated in 2022. The group identified three main issues: Unwarranted medication, unwarranted tests and unwarranted hospitalisation.

While most Covid-19 cases now have mild symptoms and will require little to no medications, the group said, “Most prescriptions we have reviewed in the past two weeks include several Covid-19 ‘kits’ and cocktails.” As government guidelines set the standard for treatment in India, the open letter exhorted the government to update its June 2021 guidelines.