Here are some excerpts from "Mother Teresa, Beyond the Image," by Anne Sebba. "Beyond the Image" does not imply that the book is a "vilifying" one, Christopher. Far from it. Sebba deeply admires MT. On the back cover of her book is a photograph of MT and Princess Diana, captioned "Although differing in age, these two women represent humanitarian spirit and generosity."
Chapter Nine, Medicine
...This baby, nearly six months old, was lying on a cold, cement floor with a pillow underneath its rear head. I was unable to see how developed the second face was but I could see the front face clearly, and there was an open would in the middle of its forehead... the body was curled in a foetal ball... 'Is he in pain?' I asked the Missionary of Charity sister... 'Of course,' the sister replied. 'She can never lift her heads at all, they are too heavy to move. But everything is in God's hands..." ...Why, when I went around the orphanage, did I not see any toys in any of the cots, nor pictures on any of the walls,...the baby with two heads would die soon... Why, if she was in pain, was she not given painkillers..."
...[there is then a story about MT's lack of interest in a program that would have helped disabled children have the possiblity of better lives]...
The following excerpt is about Dr. Robin Fix, editor of the Lancet [sort of the Brit JAMA], as far as I know not a Marxist, and his 1994 visit to MT's clinic, Nirmal Hriday. "Because it's such a long-standing place, I was fully expecting something that would be setting an example of how to look after the dying," explained Fox. His disappointment was intense. Although he had not initially intended to write anything he felt compelled. The resulting article was particularly shocking for its cool, measured tones...
...sisters and volunteers [were] left to take decisions on the basis of no diagnosis. 'How about simple algorithms that might help the sisters and volunteers distinguis the curable from the incurable?' asked Fox... 'even those without a high degree of training can be taught how to diagnose common complaints and offer simple but effective treatment. However, such systematic appproaches are alien to the ethos of the home...'
...the way the place was organized encouraged errors, which might be fatal... he told about [a young man who died unnecessarily]... 'Could not someone have looked at a blood film?' he asked...
[Dr. Fox], referring to an electric blender he knew had been brought into the home as a gift to help those who had trouble swallowing their food... the most common cancer is that of the head and neck. 'I was told it was not in accordance with their philosophy... what shocked m most was... the insistence on simplicity to the point of discomfort. Clearly there are many things which could make a patient more comfortable and yet keep the conditions consistent with those to which the poor were accustomed... I was disturbed to learn that the formulary includes no strong analgesics. Along with the neglect of diagnosis, the lack of good analgesia marks Mother Teresa's approach as clearly separate from the hospice movement. I know which I prefer.'
[The strongest analgesics are reported to be paracetamol or ibuprofen. They're both about equivalent to Tylenol.]
Sebba describes seeing the same cloth used first for wiping feces from a baby, then for wiping another infant's nose.
There is in the book a photograph of "Marcus Fernandes, a young Catholic doctor who helped Mother Teresa in the 1050's but left when he couldn't persuade her to use a better diagnostic approach."
"Washing may be central to Indian culture, but another Englishwoman [Oram Rayson] who went out to help will never forget the sight of a dying woman being carried unwillingly by two nuns, put on a tiled floor and literally hosed down with cold water. 'She was screaming out in agony'... Oram Rayson left after only two days, 'feeling that the patients were being given neither proper nursing care nor loving compassion, so what on earth is the point?'"
[The point I explained earlier; Rayson didn't realize that it wasn't about alleviating suffering, because... suffering is a good thing.]
...One of the most serious critcisms of Mother Teresa's medical care is the way disposable needles and syringes are reused literally hundreds of times, sometimes rinsed in cold water in between but not always.'
...'Many Irish nurses start at Mother Teresa's and then leave because they had expected to work on a professional basis but are not allowed to, which is especially hard when there are curable cases."
[There are also in this book testimonies from those who are not troubled by the conditions in the clinics]: "It has meant other people have started things up too and that is what is important, not what medicines are given or not given."]
[There is a very disturbing account about an English doctor, Jack Prager, a missionary, and his experiences. He seems to me to be a hero. This story begins on p 146. Prager, unlike MT, broke the law, however, so perhaps you wouldn't admire him. Here is a quote from Prager, reporting the response of Sister Luke of MT's Kalighat to a visiting orthopedic surgeon: "'What do you do for pain?''We pray for them," she said. Sister Luke once told me that, since most of the paients lived like dogs on the street, they were better off dead."]
[There is a description of orphanages with cupboards full of toys but nothing given to the children to play with, and nothing for volunteers to read to them but religious tracts.]
Sebba: "But is it fair to criticise Mother Teresa for what she is not doing rather than praising her for what she is? Mother Teresa has always insisted she is running neither a medical nor a social but a religious order...." [I wonder how many of her donors understood that.]
Note that very few of her "patients" were of her religion. |
