I refer to the malaysiakini letter Put a stop to 'tele-specialists' .

The liars and charlatans of the dis-information technology industry have touted the 'benefits' of tele-medicine which allows patients to be treated on-site by a para-medic remotely, under the guidance of a doctor.

What they did not tell us was that with the collapse of socialism in the Soviet Union, developed Western countries had begun cutting back on public medical programmes and one of the ways to make up for the lack of qualified and competent doctors on-site was to use tele-medicine as an alternative. Just like correspondence courses are a substitute for classroom education.

After all, they didn't have to compete with the socialist order any longer, so they cut back on social programmes.

Well, now the chickens have come home to roost and while I hate to have to say it (especially since people have suffered as a consequence) but my reservations regarding all the crazy promises touted by the charlatans of the dis-information technology industry now stand vindicated.

Tele-medicine is a substitute. Good for use in emergencies when doctors can't get to the patient in time but it's a substitute all the same and we should not forget that. It should never become a primary means of healthcare.

Well said, Dr Raj Kumar.

These liars and charlatans of the dis-information technology industry with their neo-liberal, globalist view and silicon snake oil are destroying all the good which people like you, together with medical practitioners like my late mother and my late uncle, worked and stood for.