In March 2022, Dr Archana Sharma, a Rajasthan-based gynaecologist, committed suicide after being accused of medical negligence. Her final note—‘My death may prove my innocence. DON’T HARASS INNOCENT DOCTORS. Please’
This story anchored my recent presentation at Christ University’s Faculty Development Programme titled When Words Fail: Healthcare Communication and the Ethics of Silence. It was not a lecture; it was a reckoning.
In South Asian healthcare, silence is omnipresent. It exists in overcrowded wards, in hurried consultations, in the unspoken grief of families and in the quiet despair of clinicians. But it is not always the case. Sometimes, its presence can be felt, especially when it serves as protection and when it is the very element that inflicts harm.
Dr Sharma’s case…