I am a dental surgeon in a suburb of Mumbai, so I get a ringside view of the system. Over the last 26 years I have had friends both amongst family physicians and consultants. Referral fee exists It is laughable to see the righteous indignation of some of the participants of the debate. They should check with their PR agent. And it has existed for atleast 26 years.
Private colleges were too few to have an impact on the system. So all the "government college "doctors can stop taking a holier than thou stance (I too am from a "Municipal " Dental College) It is unfortunate ,shameful that it exists but it does. However that being said when I think of my family physician colleagues and calculate what kind of lifestyle they would have had if they did not take these referral fee I can readily imagine why they do . What is more serious is consultants who take favours from Pharma companies. But…
