Published on: November 25, 2013

Pallium India is pleased to announce the appointment of its Chairman, Dr. M R Rajagopal, as Visiting Professor in Palliative Medicine. St. Johns Medical College is one of the premier in Medical teaching institutions in the country, always ranked among one of the top ten of the 350-odd  Medical colleges in the country.

Dr. Rajagopal delivered the Golden Jubilee talk in St. Johns Medical College Bangalore on 8 November 2013. The title was “Dispelling Myths in Palliative Care”. While much of the discussion centred around myths surrounding the spectrum that Palliative care can cover and the obvious questions regarding opioids, a part of the discussion focussed on the issue of withdrawal or withholding of life support in the face of futility of treatment.

The audience’s reaction was considerable. Many members of the audience expressed their own concerns and fears regarding the needless and sometimes cruel prolongation of life at the cost of quality of life of the patient and family, in the face of futile treatment.

Dr. Vani Ramkumar, a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, summed the discussion up by saying that in all her life, one of the most worthwhile things that she did was to make sure that her colleague could take another look at her dying parent before starting of intensive care. Then she took the colleague for a drive round the campus.

Little things matter a lot. For that doctor’s parent, the intensive care gave little benefit, and may have induced some suffering. But that one last look of farewell and the companionship at the time of crisis, were therapeutic for the doctor.

Pallium India is privileged to be associated with St John’s Medical College and is grateful to Prof Tarey, Dr Shoba Nair and the erudite audience. We look forward to working with you.