Belle Monappa Hegde (born 18 August 1938) is a cardiologist, professor of medicine, and author. He was the Vice Chancellor of

Manipal Academy of Higher Education Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) is a private deemed university located in Manipal, India. The university also has campuses in Mangalore, Bangalore and Jamshedpur in India , and global campus in Dubai and Malacca (Malaysia). As o ...

from 1999 to 2003. He was awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 2010 and

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

in 2021. He has supported theories of homeopathy and

quantum healing Quantum healing is a pseudoscientific mixture of ideas which purportedly draws from quantum mechanics, psychology, philosophy, and neurophysiology. Advocates of quantum healing assert that quantum phenomena govern health and wellbeing. There a ...

Early life

Hegde was born on 18 August 1938 in Pangala near Udupi, Karnataka, India He obtained MBBS from

Stanley Medical College Stanley Medical College (SMC) is a government medical college with hospitals located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Though the original hospital is more than 200 years old, the medical college was formally established on 2 July 1938. The medic ...

, Madras in 1960 and later M.D. from

King George Medical College King George's Medical University is a medical school, hospital, and medical university located in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The medical school was raised to a medical university by an act passed by the government of Uttar Pradesh on 16 S ...

, Lucknow

Career

Over a long career at

Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore Kasturba Medical College, Manipal and Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, together known as KMC, are two private medical colleges in coastal Karnataka, India, established in 1953.Manipal Academy of Higher Education Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) is a private deemed university located in Manipal, India. The university also has campuses in Mangalore, Bangalore and Jamshedpur in India , and global campus in Dubai and Malacca (Malaysia). As o ...

in 1999 and served till 2003. He was an Independent Director of

Zydus Wellness Zydus Wellness (previously Carnation Nutra-Analogue Foods) is an Indian consumer goods company headquartered in Ahmedabad, which produces nutrition and skincare products. It is a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Zydus Lifesciences (fo ...

. He also served as chairman of an expert committee of Bihar State Health Society He is the chairman of

Mangaluru Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...

branch of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. He started a medical journal, Journal of the Science of Healing Outcomes and serves as its Editor-in-Chief. Hegde was a fellow of the

National Academy of Medical Sciences National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), better known by its acronym, NAMS, is a nodal agency under the Government of India, which acts as an advisory body to the Government in matters related to National Health Policy and Planning and as a ...

till 2016. B.M. Hegde is a part of the selection jury in Mahaveer Awards in Bhagwan Mahaveer Awards.

Pseudoscience and controversies

He has proposed that '

' can bring sick persons back to normal, a concept widely regarded in the scientific community as pseudoscientific. In 2019, when Hegde was invited to deliver a lecture on "Sauce of Happiness" at the campus of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, he was called a proponent of "pseudo-science and quackery" by a group of research scholars, who questioned his criticism of modern medicine and accused him of promoting unverified treatments for various ailments. Hegde said it showed "how much the protesters knew about science." Hegde has also written articles and given talks in support of homeopathy, regarded globally as a

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable clai ...

. Hegde argues that even if one thinks incorrectly that Homeopathy is a

placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general, placebos can af ...

, it is still important, as most modern medicine is worse than placebo.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegde, B. M. Indian surgeons People from Udupi Mangaloreans 1938 births Living people Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in medicine Manipal Academy of Higher Education Dr. B. C. Roy Award winners University of Madras alumni University of Lucknow alumni Pseudoscience Indian medical writers Indian medical academics 20th-century Indian educational theorists Fellows of the National Academy of Medical Sciences 20th-century Indian medical doctors Medical doctors from Karnataka Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in medicine