Mumbai doctor injects self with Atracurium Besilate, commits suicide

Nagpur: In an unfortunate incident in the Ganeshpeth area of Nagpur a doctor allegedly took his own life by injecting an anesthetic drug on Friday,  He was employed in Kimaya Hospital according to the police.

The deceased doctor had been identified as Dr. Abhijeet Ratnakar Dhamankar (38) a resident of Pachpaoli, who ended his life in Kimaya Hospital where he was employed for the past two years, an official said. A suicide note was recovered from his pocket

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"The cause of death has been stated as overdose of atracurium (a neuromuscular blocker). His suicide note has blamed his wife, brother-in-law and one more person. He injected himself at 2am and died at 5 am while undergoing treatment," stated an official of the Ganeshpeth police station.

The doctor was doing a night duty at the hospital when he took the extreme step. He apparently started his duty and did rounds around 10 pm at night. Then around 3 am in the morning, one of the patient's condition worsened prompting the nurse to call him. When after repeated knocking no one one opened the door, she opened the door and checked on him, immediately calling the other doctors and the director of the hospital. Despite all efforts, he was declared dead at 5 am. 

Atracurium Besilate Injection is a medication which is indicated for an adjunct to general anesthesia during surgery in order to relax skeletal muscles, and to facilitate endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation to make way for breathing. It is also indicated to facilitate mechanical ventilation in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

How does the drug cause death ?

Atracurium antagonizes(opposite effect) the neurotransmitter action of acetylcholine(major neurotransmitter of human body) by binding competitively with cholinergic receptor sites on the motor end-plate. 

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