Duty doctor attacked by patient's kin at Vijayawada Hospital, Junior Doctors on strike

Vijayawada: Around 200-300 junior doctors under the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association (APJUDA) of Siddhartha Medical College commenced an indefinite strike today in response to an alleged assault on a junior doctor by the relatives of a patient who passed away in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital.

The strike which started yesterday entered its second day with doctors protesting and calling for government intervention to address the issue of attacks on doctors and paramedical staff boycotting out-patient treatment and elective surgeries.

The alleged attack on the junior doctor took place after a 54-year-old male patient was brought to the casualty department of the Vijayawada Government General Hospital (GGH) attached to the Siddhartha Medical College on Thursday at 11 am. The patient had reportedly ingested an unknown quantity of glyphosate ammonium poison.

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Previously, the patient was under treatment at a private hospital after consuming the poison on Wednesday night. Later, the doctors at the private hospital referred him to GGH. The on-duty casualty department doctor who is the alleged victim in this case checked his vitals and declared that his condition was serious.

Noting the patient's serious condition, the doctor instructed the family members to transfer the patient to ICU. After admitting him to the ICU, the patient unfortunately died within an hour of cardiac arrest despite the doctor's attempt to save him.

Speaking to Medical Dialogues, the President of APJUDA-SMC wing Dr Dharmakar Pujari said, "When the doctor approached the patient's family members to inform them about the incident, the relatives attacked the duty doctor. They blamed the doctor for inadequate treatment and assaulted him both verbally and physically. He was pushed and grabbed by his collar by the attackers."

Following the attack, the AP-JUDA came in support of the junior doctor and initiated a strike. The strike was declared yesterday which started in the morning after the association tried to give a letter regarding the issue to the administrators but the administrators refused to meet them. Meanwhile, The Indian Medical Association (IMA) - Andhra Pradesh also announced their support for their strike.

"The issue was discussed with the APJUDA, which resulted in us deciding to start a strike by refraining from non-emergency services. Notifications about the strike were sent to the principal, superintendent, and all department heads. As we began our protest at the hospital, the administrator filed an FIR around 10:20 AM, despite a 16-hour delay since the incident," said a statement from the association.

Demanding the arrest of the accused and urging the govt to take measures to control attacks on doctors, the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association (APJUDA) of Siddhartha Medical College (SMC) declared that they will continue their strike until their demands are met.

"Attacks on doctors are increasing each day in our nation but the government takes no action. We demand strict security and protection of the medical fraternity," informed Dr Dharmakar to Medical Dialogues.

Meanwhile, a meeting is expected to take place online with the DME and the junior doctors along with the association at 5 pm today to discuss the incident. The association have been informed to present their grievances in the meeting. Dr Dharmakar also informed that they would meet higher authorities voicing their demands if the matter goes unresolved.

Earlier, Directorate of Medical Education (DME) Dr Narasimham urged the leaders of JUDA to call off the strike for the sake of poor patients and discussed resolving their demands.

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