Health & Fitness
When to let patients go is one of the hardest decisions in medicine, but it’s only
one part of a much deeper conversation.
In this episode, Dr. Farokh Udwadia, Padma Bhushan awardee and one of
India’s most respected physicians, reflects on how medicine has evolved and
what it may have lost along the way. From building critical care in India to
decades at the bedside, he brings a rare perspective on science, judgment, and
the human side of healing.
The conversation explores how modern medicine, despite its advances, often
risks becoming mechanized, prioritizing reports, tests, and intervention over
understanding the patient as a whole. He shares why clinical judgment, intuition,
and empathy cannot be replaced by technology and how emotional distress often
manifests as physical illness.
It also dives into some of the most difficult realities doctors face:
over-medicalisation, unnecessary procedures, and the ethical dilemmas around
end-of-life care. From ventilators and resuscitation to euthanasia and living wills,
this episode examines when treatment stops being care and becomes prolonged
suffering.
In this conversation, you’ll understand:
● Why medicine may be losing its human touch
● The difference between curing a disease and healing a patient
● How judgment and experience shape better decisions than data alone
● When life-saving treatment becomes prolonged suffering
● What it means to practise medicine with integrity and compassion
Watch till the end to rethink what medicine can do and what it should do