TN: Kin assaults House surgeon of Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital after patient's death

Tirunelveli: In yet another case of violence against doctors, a house surgeon at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TVMCH) was allegedly thrashed by relatives over the death of their 65-year-old kin.  

Although the police managed to capture one of the three relatives on Saturday, arrests of the other two have not been made yet.

Violence against doctors has become a common occurrence in the country and even though the government promises to take action and provide them with security, such a move has always been a talk.

The incident took place on Saturday night when the patient, a middle-aged person was shifted to the general ward after being admitted to the hospital with several health issues on Thursday. The patient was given medicines by other house surgeons on duty.

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However, the situation worsened when the house surgeon administered an injection to the patient which caused him to die. According to the kin of the deceased, the injection given by the surgeon caused him to collapse and ultimately result in his death.

Angered over the incident, the relatives blamed the surgeon for medical negligence and began to assault him brutally. Following this, the house surgeon was in critical condition and was admitted to the hospital for treatment.

“Stating that her father died due to medical negligence, the daughter of the deceased patient, beat the doctor on his face, followed by her husband and a relative,” according to TNIE sources.

In response to this, TvMCH Dean Dr M Ravichandran has denied the allegations of medical negligence against the house surgeon and said “The patient died due to multi-organ failure. A private hospital already treated him before his relatives brought him to TvMCH for tertiary care.”

The assault case of the house surgeon who is a compulsory rotating medical intern at the hospital caused an uproar among the medical fraternity who later held a protest demanding action against the relatives.

Staging a protest on the hospital campus, other house surgeons and doctors demanded immediate arrest of the relatives and in fact boycotted their duty until action was taken by the police.

In order to stop the protest, a police team led by V R Srinivasan, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Tirunelveli East rushed to the spot and convinced them to withdraw the protest by promising that the accused persons will be punished.

“After the police promised to take action against the accused persons, the house surgeons and doctors dispersed and returned to duty," sources of the daily added.

An FIR was registered by the police against the three accused persons under sections of the Hospital Protection Act.

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