The doctors of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand are on strike following an alleged assault by a patient's family members on a postgraduate (PG) first-year medico on September 19, Tuesday.
Allegedly, a four-year-old child died from symptoms of malaria. Upon the child's death, the patient's family members allegedly attacked and injured the doctor on duty, Dr Kamalesh Oraon, on September 19. Although the doctor is in a stable condition now after combating injuries, the question of safety and security of doctors, in general, stands in question.
Giving details about the incident, the doctor's colleague and a representative from the Junior Doctors Association (JDA), who wanted to stay anonymous, shared with EdexLive, "The incident happened on September 19 and we had given an ultimatum of 24 hours to the police for arresting the main accused. Failing which, we suspended the OPD (Outpatient Department) and IPD (Inpatient Department) services."
Further, when asked what actually transpired, the colleague claimed, "On September 18 at around 11.30 to 12 am, a 4.5-year-old girl reached the hospital in an emergency. The doctor on duty, Dr Kamalesh, briefed the child's parents about the patient's critical condition and was referred to a higher centre due to the non-availability of adequate equipment and facilities." As per reports online, the parent is identified as Deepak Pradhan, a resident of the Devnagar region who admitted his daughter Anu, suffering from fever and other related ailments, in the paediatric ward.
"On September 19, around 1.20 am, the child died. After finding out about this, 10-15 goons entered the hospital and brutally assaulted the PG first-year of the Paediatric department who was on a night shift doing paperwork," he claimed. A video shared by the Federation of All India Medical Association's (FAIMA) National Executive Member Dr RishiRaj (@DrRishiRajSinh1) Sinha on X (formerly Twitter) shows goons entering the ward and attacking the doctor.
Demanding immediate arrest of the main accused, the junior doctors have begun the strike. "Although the police claim they have arrested the main accused, we disagree and feel that some other person has been arrested in the name of the main accused," the colleague alleged.
Further, the colleague stressed that if the main accused is not held, the emergency services will also be suspended along with OPD and IPD.
