Vishwajit Kumar
Appearances
Revisionist History
The RFK Jr. Problem
There's one vivid memory that I can actually think of. is going into these pediatric wards and you had patients, these children, literally to the point that you would actually have a diarrhea ward, a separate diarrhea ward, because that was the quantum of cases that you would see in hospitals without exception.
Revisionist History
The RFK Jr. Problem
You have babies who come in dehydrated. severely dehydrated. And the first thing, you know, sunken eyes, you know, you could just pull their skin and you'll find that, you know, they just don't retract because there's no turgor pressure.
Revisionist History
The RFK Jr. Problem
So you have these sweepers whose job is to just keep cleaning the mess or the parents would do it or the parents would clean it, you know. And of the children in that ward in that era, how many would you lose? Okay. So let's say there is a hundred of them who come in with severe and life-threatening diarrhea. You'd lose 10% for sure. Oh my goodness.
Revisionist History
The RFK Jr. Problem
Yes. So to give you an example, so we do these verbal autopsies because hospitals don't have good records. And so essentially reconstruct that event so that then experts can sit around and say this possibly could have led to the death. I have never been able to go through one verbal autopsy in one city. What do you mean?
Revisionist History
The RFK Jr. Problem
It's so heartbreaking because you're like, oh, you know, this could have been so, this could have been prevented. You know, it's like you look at these cases and see every newborn dies. There is one mother who also in some ways, there is some part of it dies with her.