This morning, while on a phone call with my mother to check up on a family friend admitted in hospital with Covid-19, my mother happened to casually remark –“He is on ventilator since the past few days, you know how they simply keep patients on ventilators anyway for days on end…” I immediately retorted, “What do you mean, they keep patients on ventilators? You think they have any other choice when dealing with a critical patient?” This off the cuff remark, however casual, just reflected the deep mistrust most of people in this country have for doctors, especially the ones who practice allopathic medicine. Following the surge of Covid cases in India this year, the ICUs filled up fast and quick, more rapidly than anyone was prepared for. What we witnessed was no less than a tragedy of epic proportions unfolding before our very eyes, on our TV screens- or as far as doctors are concerned- everyday at work. That we were unprepared is no secret, and amidst the cries calling for account