This is a narration of my personal experience at Narayana Hrudalaya. My father underwent certain routine heart tests at this hospital last Saturday. We then consulted Dr. Pradeep Shetty there, with the reports. He suspected an artery blockage & suggested admission for angiography(& possibly followed by an angioplasty – sten implantation OR a bypass). My father became very tense & his so called symptoms, as per Pradeep Shetty, became even more worse. When enquired, he was advised immediate admission. I had already started the mediclaim processing etc. Luckily, at the last moment, my father persisted for a 2nd opinion. We went to Wockhardt to see a senior Cardiac Consultant Dr. Subash Chandra, who provided a clean chit. We still went ahead to see another doctor at Apollo Hospital, Dr. Gopi, another senior Cardiac Consultant. He too laughed at the prospects of a possible artery blockage & suggested his heart is as strong as possible with no need for angiography etc. His reports were all normal. The so called pain was suggested to be due to be Gastric problems.
Whom do we trust? Angiography is supposed to be bad for kidney & not advisable unless necessary. This should be done when other tests TMT/ECHO suggests blockages. His report was clean on these counts. Narayan Hrudalaya is a name in itself. Dr. Devi Shetty from this hospital is almost worshipped in households. Patients get operated here without questioning doctors. Even my distant relatives got operated here earlier. I wonder if there was a need at all…. Medical ethics has completely lost its value these days!
P.S. - I also had a bad experience with mediclaim processing(pre-approval before admission). The staff lacked basic knowledge & faxed the letter to Mumbai instead of Bangalore! And I kept waiting for the approval to come. Even before this, the patient was asked to go outside & do a photocopy of Narayana Hrudalaya reports required for insurance. The corporate insurance staff wasnt curteous. This is glaring in comparison to any other high-end hospitals, specially when Narayana Hrudalaya also charges same/more for its services.