During my internship, a middle aged man was rushed into the ER completely unresponsive.
Vitals were stable, but he was comatose.
Random Blood Sugar: 28 mg/dL.
We immediately pushed IV Dextrose. He woke up confused but fine.
We wanted to keep him for observation and a full workup, but the family refused. They signed a Discharge Against Medical Advice (DAMA) the next morning and took him home.
48 hours later?
Brought back in the exact same comatose state.
Blood Sugar: 22 mg/dL.
We sat the family down.
"Is he diabetic? Did he accidentally take someone else's insulin or pills?"
Family swore up and down:
"No! He hates allopathy. He is perfectly healthy, he only takes a 100% natural herbal powder from a local traditional healer for his diabetes."
We ran the complete workup.
Insulinoma? Negative.
Adrenal issues? Negative.
But his serum C-peptide and insulin levels were sky-high.
The math wasn't mathing.
We asked the son to bring the "100% natural herbal powder" from home to the ward. It was a nameless brown packet of dust. We managed to get it analyzed.
The result?
It was heavily laced with unregulated doses of Glibenclamide.
That day I realized...
In medicine, the most dangerous toxins don't always come from snake bites or chemical spills. Sometimes they are sold in unmarked packets as "100% natural cures"
Imagine living in an overpopulated country with collapsing infra, overcrowded hospitals, unemployment, poor education but government still has audacity to give money to produce more children.
Bhagwaan bhala kare is desh ka.