Nepalis are no strangers to spurious drugs and harmful services offered by unqualified paramedics posing as doctors or even specialists. But little has been done to bring the nefarious practice to a halt. Prescription drugs are freely available throughout the country despite laws prohibiting the practice. Others have cheated the public by blending modern drugs with Ayurvedic concoctions and selling them as panacea to several ailments. At a time when questions are being asked about the quality of healthcare in hospitals and expensive treatment offered by private nursing homes, another group of unqualified medical staff taking advantage of weak monitoring and ineffective surveillance are the radiographers.

Most of the radiographers are mere button-pushers, who, however, are either unaware of the risks they induce by neglecting the stringent operating guidelines or have simply taken them with a pinch of salt. In doing so, the unsuspecting patients have no way of knowing whether the operators are enlightened about the implications of exposure. That is nothing to say about the implications on some patients who might require precaution before being subjected to such tests. There are nearly 215 skilled radiologists to operate nearly 800 X-ray machines in the country. That is to say quacks man nearly 600 X-ray units. Put otherwise, 600 X-ray machines expose patients each time to greater radiological risks that might ultimately lead to incurable complications. This is the height of medical negligence.

Medical science draws on delicate tools and techniques that call for acute awareness on the part of those who employ such technology in order to mitigate human suffering. In the process come the dangers associated with mishandling of the equipment. A wrong or a doubtful decision on the part of the operator might cost patients their lives. These sensibilities, meanwhile, mean nothing to the common man who is most likely made to suffer for somebody else’s mediocrity. It is for the Ministry of Health to effectively monitor the radiological units in all hospitals and nursing homes by means of surprise visits. No less vital is the need to ascertain that radiological units are sternly governed by the operating guidelines. Rectification measure would not do any good if someone were to be exposed to an overdose of radiation.