For the last 10-days hospitals, across Jammu and Kashmir, are reportedly receiving six to seven 'brought dead' COVID patients a day. This, because instead of taking doctor's guidance for treatment protocols, many are taking it upon themselves to self-medicate. If that were not enough, most patient attendants are also forcing treating doctors to prescribe experimental drugs like Remedesvir including immunosuppressive drugs mainly for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis —Tocilizumab, and steroids.
Falling for misinformation on the internet
COVID-19 related misinformation and half-baked/unproven treatment protocols are adding to the death toll in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Experts warn that instead of providing relief to the infected persons the self-medication or medications that doctors are forced to prescribe, in many cases, are rather enhancing risk factors for COVID-19 patients. "I saw a video on Facebook which said putting lemon water in a patient's nose kills the virus, I didn't believe it, but many gullible ones do. We need to be very careful," says Tanveer Hussain Khan, a Kashmir-based volunteer. "Recently I saw many patients I was helping ask me to tell doctors to give Remedesvir to their patients as well," he added.
What doctors say
Doctors are having a tough time battling this pandemic, "We are ready to guide the people 24x7 at this crucial time. Instead of depending on internet propaganda, patients or their family members must utilize services being provided by the government for any medicine or other treatment", Dr. Shashi Sudhan Sharma, Principal Government Medical College Jammu told International Business Times. The doctor said that helplines, established by the authorities, are functioning round the clock to guide patients.
"Medicines required for COVID patients are available in all government health institutes on subsidized rates so there is no need to purchase any drug on the basis of internet misinformation", she said.
Recently someone from Kashmir valley had tweeted about arranging medicines at a whopping cost of Rs 35,000. The medicine, official sources revealed was initially not prescribed by the doctors but it was allegedly the family members who forced the doctor to prescribe the expensive drug. It was soon revealed that this was no case of overcharging, but the drug actually costs much higher in parts and was purchased from the hospital pharmacy against a receipt.
This is not an isolated case, the panic-stricken people are going for self-medication on the basis of the internet misinformation, rather than following the guidance of highly qualified doctors.
Dr. Naveed Nazeer Shah, head of pulmonary medicine at Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar and head clinician for Covid-19, cautioned against self-medication. "Although we don't have any effective treatment available for this virus, we have to religiously follow the guidance of doctors for treatment of positive patients", he said.
Recently Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has appreciated Dr. Shah for his dedication and commitment to fighting the deadly virus. He has been dealing with COVID patients since the outbreak of the pandemic in the year 2020.
Experts launch campaign against self-medication on social media
To properly guide and educate the people about the harm of self-medication, a group of doctors led by Professor and Head of Department, Chest Disease, Government Medical College Jammu, Dr. Rahul Gupta has already started a campaign on social media. This campaign is launched to give guidance to those who rely more on internet information instead of the advice of qualified doctors.
In his first video, Dr. Gupta has cautioned against the use of Remdesivir or any other drug without proper diagnosis. He said that this expensive drug is not to be used for patients who are not on oxygen support or in-home isolation. He warned that the experimental antiviral has its own side effects and should never be administered through self-diagnosis and on mild category COVID patients.
Self-medication is deadly
Realizing that self-medication is also a cause of deaths at home, authorities are repeatedly urging people to take proper guidance from doctors for positive patients. In a message, authorities appealed to the people that all symptomatic COVID-19 positive patients must take medical advice from the nearest possible healthcare center or designated COVID hospitals which can reduce the mortality rate.
Shockingly more deaths at home were reported from the urban area instead of rural. On Tuesday, out of a total of 61 COVID deaths in J&K, eight were 'brought dead' in different hospitals. On Monday this number was five out of a total of 56 COVID deaths. On Saturday, 60 COVID patients succumbed to the virus out of which 10 died at home.
J&K also saw a rise in phishing attempts by using fake vaccine registration attempts, click here to read our IBT fact-check on this issue.
The J&K Government led by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha managed to put out clear messaging about the abuse of Remedesir in a creative published by the UT. The question now remains, beyond this experimental drug, there's a question of the efficacy of the Plasma used to treat COVID-19 patients —the jury is still out for this one.
