Medical profession tarnished by miracle

An inquiry is under way into the ethics of endorsing a miracle healing a child.

The inquiry is being conducted by the Kerala chapter of the Indian Medical Association.

Dr V K Sreenivasan, a paediatrician in Kerala, endorsed the miraculous recovery of a premature baby born at the hospital in 2009.

Sreenivasan says the infant Christopher Jolly’s parents and other relatives believed he was saved by his grandmother placing holy relics of Mariam Thresia on his bed and prayer.

Jolly, who is now 10, witnessed Mariam Thresia’s canonisation at the Vatican on Sunday.

Dr N Sulphi, who is the chapter secretary for the IMA-Kerala mentioned his concerns about the miracle in a social media post.

He was seeking evidence for such claims.

The IMA Kerala chapter president, Dr ME Sugathan, says many IMA doctors are concerned about Sreenivasan’s claim and do not support it.

Sugathan says this is especially so because it involved an element that tarnishes the medical profession.

The IMAs Ethical Committee will investigate and report back on the ethics of Sreenivasan’s opinion.

“Obviously there were cases of unexpected improvements in patients’ conditions. But doctors generally consider it only as natural improvement or due to oversight in diagnosis,” Sugathan says.

He added: “Sreenivasan’s view that he had not seen such an improvement in any patients was objected to by most doctors in IMA,”

Sreenivasan is said to have informally commented on some social media groups of doctors that he had only given facts regarding Jolly’s treatment. He had not endorsed any magical powers behind the recovery, he is said to have noted.

At the time of publication Sreenivasan had not been contacted as he was yet to return from Vatican after attending Sunday’s canonisation ceremony.

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