West Bengal: Doctors beaten up after patient death – Times of India

HOWRAH/KOLKATA: Two doctors of Howrah District Hospital sustained serious injuries – one suffered a shoulder dislocation and the other head injuries – when the kin of a deceased, alleging medical negligence, assaulted them and damaged hospital properties late on Saturday night. The incident brought back memories of the assault on doctors at NRS Medical College in June 2019 when a young intern’s skull got fractured.
Police have arrested the dead patient’s son, who led the mob, and slapped him with non-bailable penal sections, including attempt to murder, assaulting a government officer on duty and damaging government property. Police said more arrests were likely. State health department has ordered a separate probe.
Doctors Nabarun Majumdar and Pramit Basu were on night shift when the 56-year-old patient, Kartick De, who was admitted with multiple complications, including chronic kidney disease (CKD), died. The two rushed to stop his relatives, including his son Rohit, who were allegedly assaulting another doctor, Sanat Kumar Ankure, who was the bed in-charge. The mob’s ire turned on them and the duo bore the brunt of the attack.
A medical officer at ICU, Majumdar’s right shoulder got dislocated while Basu, a post graduate trainee, sustained head injuries. Majumdar is recuperating at the hospital after undergoing a correctional procedure for shoulder dislocation. Doctors found Basu’s head injury to be superficial.
Hospital super Narayan Chattopadhyay said De was admitted on Thursday after being referred by Uttarpara State General Hospital with acute kidney ailments. De died on Saturday around 10 pm due to multi-organ failure precipitated by CKD.
Rohit alleged his father wasn’t put on dialysis on time. Chattopadhyay denied the charge.
IMA and other doctor associations have condemned the incident. The Joint Platform of Doctors, including Association of Health Service Doctors and West Bengal Doctors’ Forum, will hold a protest March at Swasthya Bhawan on Monday.