Excerpt
SUMMARY: Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, one of the world's most prolific heart surgeons, is the founder of a for-profit medical chain in India that offers top-notch surgery at very low prices. It serves wealthy patients and some medical tourists, but their goal is to bring the latest advances to the poor. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): Next, the story of a man who’s been called the Henry Ford of heart surgery.
Fred de Sam Lazaro reports from India. It’s part of his ongoing series Agents for Change.
A warning: Some images may be disturbing.
DR. DEVI PRASAD SHETTY, Founder, Narayana Health: Hole in the heart. It’s one of those standard procedures.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO (NewsHour): It is especially standard for 62-year-old Devi Prasad Shetty, one of the world’s most prolific heart surgeons.
DR. DEVI PRASAD SHETTY: I do now about one or two surgeries a day, and we work six days a week. My colleagues, some of them do four surgeries, five surgeries a day.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Anywhere from 25 to 35 open heart operations are performed in the theaters here every day, many on babies, making this by far the largest cardiac care facility in the world.
It’s part of a fast-growing for-profit chain called Narayana Health, offering top-notch surgery, like this complex valve replacement, at rock-bottom costs.
DR. DEVI PRASAD SHETTY: This patient would have paid us about $2,500 to about $3,000, but in the U.S., an operation of this nature would cost, I guess, more — anything from $30,000, $100,000.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Dr. Shetty founded Narayana Health 15 years ago. It serves wealthy patients and some medical tourists. But he says the goal is to bring the latest advances in cardiac surgery to the poor.
DR. DEVI PRASAD SHETTY: It’s pointless we’re talking about huge developments in cardiac surgery or a brain operation or a complex cancer surgery if the common man cannot afford it. If a solution is not affordable, it is not a solution.
Republicans, are you listening?
Unfortunately Republican are blind, dumb, and deaf because of the virtual realty helmet put over their heads (installed by their big-money paymasters) to make sure they DON'T serve the American citizen. Money first, citizens health last.
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