95 per cent of healthcare facilities have less than five workers

80 per cent of cholesterol patients are over-diagnosed

9,00,000 of C-sections are preventable

7.04 lakh children under five die of pneumonia and diarrhea every year

For Dr Sumanth C Raman, the numbers don’t lie. Decades of having a ring-side view of the inner workings of India’s healthcare system have given him ample reason to question, ponder, and challenge it.

In Sick Business, through first-hand accounts of patients, interviews with doctors and other healthcare professionals, and scouring through reports and research, Dr Raman unveils a chilling portrait, a healthcare system veiled in shadows.

Vested interests, shady research, lax State intent, questionable ethics, and general disarray, the questions don’t stop – how to alleviate our overburdened public hospitals? At what cost does the opulence of ubiquitous private hospitals come at? Is India facing a silent epidemic of surgeries? Why is there a rampant culture of underqualified quacks in India? Is there a wave of over testing and overdiagnosis? Why do we have one of the biggest antibiotic-resistant populations in the world? Is there a nexus between big pharmaceutical companies and hospitals, that affects us? Weaving through these questions and more, the book uncovers the truth behind the pristine façade of doctors and hospitals.

A gripping exposé that doesn’t shy away from challenging existing notions, a clarion call for reform and change, Sick Business compels you to re-evaluate the ethical compass guiding our medical institutions. In the end, it equips you with some real answers and the tough questions you need to ask when your family’s health – and perhaps your own – is at stake.