Velachery in Chennai is a nodal spot for IT workforce. The neighborhood has been marked for it’s importance for housing young parents who have the money (thanks to IT domain!) and muscle to spend the surplus income for the happiness and welfare of their children. This attitude of parents have been overly leveraged by retail markets, food industry and now increasingly also in the medical field. From an infant who is unnecessarily admitted to diabetic neonatology care (Kamakshi Hospital, Velachery), to having a ward boy look over the accident dressing (Athipathi Hospital, Velachery), the neighborhood is also flooded with child pediatricians who capitalize on selling their own clinic’s pharmacy drugs and prescribing lethal antibiotics to children. For example, a MD pediatrician and a Neonatal surgeon in Dandeeswaram, Velachery, is so hell bound of selling you his drugs (which you will get only from his store and nowhere else in entire Chennai) is also a producer of Three Movies! Medicine among these doctors have turned completely into a hardcore business with zero service mindset or empathy on little children.
As a parent of a 6 year old and having enough hands on experience with the local pediatricians, the author tries to summarize the good doctors who have tried to keep the integrity of medicine. The article also touches upon the red flags, which will tell you if a doctor is taking undue leverage of your love towards your child or genuinely prescribe medicines appropriate for your child’s illness.
Best Child Doctors in Velachery:
Dr. S. Giridhar,
A MD Pediatrics and Neonatologist from Neolife, Medavakkam is one of the best child pediatricians in Velachery neighborhood. More details of him can be found here.
Dr. Aristotle Plato:
He practices out of Neo-life, Velachery and Neo Life Madiappakkam. More information can be found here.
Neolife Multi-speciality Hospital is one of the best boons Velachery residents can have! Yet given it’s multispecialty infrastructure many residents settle with local clinics, where unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed! The author has been to Neolife Multi-speciality Hospital, Velachery thrice and in those visits there have been instances where doctors have advised “No medical Intervention is need!”. Even normal drugs are prescribed ONLY and ONLY if it is absolutely necessary! The hospital also has the capacity to handle complex cases.
Dr. V.P. Sivakumar
Janya clinic is the most preferred neighborhood doctor of Velachery. More details of him can be found here. Known for his humility, the doctor also advices the parents on homecare and diet to ensure speedy recovery of the child.
Dr. Jaya Vasath
Dr. JayaVasanth of Ashwin Child Care Clinic have been recommended by many mothers of Velachery. This doctor is known for recommended natural remedies and homecare advices for parents. More information of the doctor can be found here.
K.S. Pediatric Hospital
K.S.Hospital well known for it’s legacy in maternity care, specifically Normal Delivery of expectant mothers, has also an pediatric out-patient hospital. Doctor consultants like Dr. Merlin Vincy practice in this hospital. Known for its humble roots, the hospital is conservative in its treatment towards mother and child. Children are not treated liberally with anti-biotics or high concentrate medicines. Serious interventions are made only if it is absolutely necessary.
How will I know if my current doctor is a bad one?
We may not know your child’s doctor personally. But here are few red flags, by which you can perform the litmus test. Has your child been prescribed:
- Liberal dosage of Antibiotics for flu, fever or common out-patient visits?
- Drugs which are only available in the doctor’s In-house clinic and nowhere else in the local pharmacies?
- Scares even a normal flu episodes to be a possibility of wheezing or bronchitis?
- Overall you end up spending a lot more on purchasing the in-house medicinal drugs over the Rs.300 consultation fee.
If your answer is YES to any of the above, then remember your child is in wrong hands. If a drug is available only in a particular doctor’s in-house pharmacy it is a strong red flag. These medicines are prepared by local drug companies within Chennai, so to be exclusively available for the doctor. The combination of chemicals are more customized according to the doctor’s request and the profit margins to the doctor is high in these kind of drug combinations. A good doctor will prescribe globally approved and accepted drug combinations which have been productized and well marketed across city pharmacies. Hence, be extremely cautious while treating your child with customized drugs!
Also, in general please be aware that an MBBS or MD degree from a Private medical college or Nepal/Thailand/Russia League (& not Indian Government Colleges) means that it is highly likely that the medical education was bought than earned through merit. So do consider the college from which the doctor earned his MBBS as a yardstick of his competency or merit! Research more about the doctor of your choice before you can trust your child’s health with him.
Most of all, Know that home care is the best cure! The traditional medicines of Ayurveda, soups, healthy food, loads of love and affection will go a great way alongside medicines to treat your child.
In preparing for the above article, our author relied on personal experience and in addition spoke to many parents and pharmacy guys (the good ones!)
