Sion Hospital MS medico found dead in hostel washroom after reported workload complaint
Mumbai: In a tragic incident, a first-year postgraduate medical student pursuing a Masters in Surgery (MS) course at Mumbai’s Sion Hospital was found dead inside a washroom at his hostel on Saturday evening. An anaesthesia overdose is suspected, though the circumstances surrounding his death remain under investigation.
According to reports, the doctor, a 28-year-old native of Karnataka, was pursuing postgraduate training in surgery at the civic-run hospital and was found dead in his hostel bathroom around 7.30 pm on Saturday. Hospital officials said he had previously raised concerns about a heavy workload.
The incident came to light after the doctor could not be located for several hours and his hostel room remained closed. When his roommate called his phone, he heard it ringing inside the bathroom and alerted senior hospital authorities. The doctor was subsequently found dead with an injectable medical device, according to TOI.
Police have registered an accidental death report and initiated an investigation. Hospital authorities have contacted the doctor's family, while the body is to be handed over to them after the postmortem. The hospital has reportedly not received any official communication from the police regarding the discovery of a suicide note.
Following the incident, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) wing of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) expressed grief and called for urgent measures to protect resident doctors’ mental health and well-being.
According to India Today, the association cited prolonged duty hours, excessive workloads, staff shortages, sleep deprivation and burnout as concerns affecting medical trainees. It urged the National Medical Commission (NMC) and other authorities to ensure regulated working hours, adequate staffing, mandatory rest periods and accessible mental health support.
MARD also referred to the NMC task force report on the mental health and well-being of medical students, which found that 31.2 per cent of postgraduate residents had experienced suicidal ideation. The association cited a peer-reviewed study documenting 105 reported suicide deaths among resident doctors in India between 2010 and 2019.
The incident has also brought renewed attention to the gap between prescribed duty-hour limits and working conditions in hospitals.
While the National Medical Commission's (NMC) rules state that no resident doctor may work beyond 48 hours a week, this is seldom followed in hospital settings. Past data from Nagpur Government Medical College showed that one trainee had logged more than 540 hours in a single month. At least 25 resident doctors have died by suicide over the last few years, reports TOI.
Hospital officials reportedly said workload-related complaints had been raised in the past, but none had reached them in the preceding couple of months, as the workload in the doctors' unit had reduced.
Calling for concrete action, MARD said resident doctors’ commitment to patient care must be matched by institutional support for their own health and safety. The association urged authorities to treat the incident as a reminder of the need to improve working conditions and provide timely mental health support to medical trainees.
