Violence continues: Howrah District Hospital doctors brutally assaulted by patient family, hospital vandalised

Kolkata: Even though the sudden suicide of Dr Archana Sharma had shook the entire medical fraternity and voices were raised demanding justice, violence against doctors has not stopped and the latest act of violence was faced by the doctors and staff of Howrah District Hospital after the death of a critical patient.

Around 3-4 doctors were physically assaulted by the families of the late patient and the on-duty medical officer Dr Nabarun Majumder suffered most. The shoulder of Dr. Majumder got dislocated and he will not be able to join work for around 3 months. Another doctor, Dr. Pramit Basu received injury in his head. The culprits also vandalized the hospital and damaged the medical equipment including the ECG machine. 

While police have booked several of the culprits and have arrested the patient's son, the West Bengal Doctors Forum has approached the State Health Secretary regarding the issue.

The kin of the patient, including his son, assaulted the doctors, nurses and the staff of Howrah District Hospital. However, it was Dr. Majumder who got injured most as his right shoulder got dislocated due to the incident.

Issuing a press statement regarding the incident, West Bengal Doctors Forum mentioned yesterday, "On 9th April Night at Howrah District Hospital a critical patient succumbed and just after that patient's relatives including his son assaulted doctors, nurses, and hospital staffs. On duty medical officer Dr Nabarun Majumder had suffered grievous bodily harm- dislocation of right shoulder due to the incident. West Bengal Doctors Forum strongly condemns this heinous incident and urged to impose strongest sections of IPC including 506, 326 to the perpetrators."

"We urge the Government and Health Department to refrain from provoking the general public against the medical fraternity and ensure Safety and Workplace and Zero tolerance to Violence in hospitals and against Healthcare Staffs...If safety is no ensured we will be forced to take serious steps which may be of very stringent in nature," it added.

Speaking to Medical Dialogues regarding the matter, Dr. Koushik Chaki, the Founder Secretary of the Forum said, "Several doctors had been assaulted that night but Dr. Nabarun's assault was very serious in nature. His anterior shoulder joint got dislocated and he will be off work for around 3 months. However, the most important thing is the mental harassment that the doctors go through.The patient was brought in a very bad shape. His blood parameters were extremely bad and he had uncontrollable blood sugar. He had been referred from another hospital. However, despite the best efforts, the patient could not be saved. Right now we are all standing outside the office of the Health Secretary and afterward we will also meet the Director of Health Services regarding the matter."

Referring to the repeated acts of violence against doctors, he said, "In the last 4-5 years West Bengal has seen more than 350 doctors being assaulted both in government and private sector. The real problem is the lack of infrastructure and manpower as only buildings alone cannot be counted as infrastructure. If a patient comes with a heart attack at night and if the ECG machine is not operable at night how do we treat that patient?" Narrating that the doctors need to pay the price Dr. Chaki further added that "Every time the police comes late and starts giving out bailable FIRS."  

Also Read: Dr Archana Suicide case: Father-in-law moves SC, seeks CBI Probe

This act of violence comes only a few days after Rajasthan based Dr. Archana Sharma had committed suicide for being booked for murder of a patient who had died due to Post partum hemorrhage(PPH). The incident shook the medical fraternity at its core and soon afterward another Gynecologist, Dr. Nilesh Mhaske,  became the victim of PPH, as he was brutally beaten up by the families of a patient who expired during childbirth, for the same complication of PPH.

Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has also condemned all these incidents of violence and FAIMA mentioned in its release today, "All the members of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) together with the rest of the medical community are appalled by the barbaric violence perpetrated against Dr Nabarun Majumdar, an on-duty doctor at Howrah District Hospital on 9th April, 2022, following which he sustained a shoulder dislocation along with other injuries over his body. Also, we express our grievance over yet another incident of violence against Dr. Nilesh, a gynecologist, practising in Maharashtra, where the doctor faced physical assault by the relatives of the patient who died following a complication of childbirth process."

"Such horrific incidents not only create hostile and unsafe working conditions for healthcare professionals but also a sense of fear and anxiety amongst them while treating a high-risk patient. All the healthcare workers are committed to providing to their patients with the best of the medical treatments possible. In the current scenario, despite providing best medical care to patients, no physician, however conscientious or careful, can tell what day or hour he may not be the object of some undeserved attack, malacious accusation, black mail or suit for damages," it added.

Demanding a strong law to protect the doctors, FAIMA further mentioned, "Such acts of violence against the care givers will not be tolerated any further. We request that the legislators of the country set laws that will both protect healthcare workers from such barbaric acts of violence while also providing them with a sense of security so that they can carry out patient related work without fear."

"In the name of justice, we sincerely hope that the souls of all those doctors who died facing such atrocities are honored and request that the perpetrators of such violence shall be punished as early as possible which will prevent similar unfortunate incidents from happening in the future," it added.

India Today adds that the son of the late patient was found to be involved in the attack and has been arrested by Police. He will be soon produced in court.

Also Read: Maharashtra gynaecologist becomes yet another PPH victim, brutally beaten up after patient death