A duty doctor, attached to M S Ramaiah Hospital, was attacked by the mother of a boy who was admitted to the hospital after he was injured in an accident, on Monday night.
The middle-aged woman assaulted the young doctor Sana while an x-ray was being taken of her son’s fractured leg, alleging negligence on part of the doctor, police said.
Dr Sana remained unconscious for a while after the incident and was admitted to the hospital. He approached his colleagues and later informed Sadashivanagar police about the incident. Since no action was taken against the attacker, hundreds of doctors took out a silent protest march from the hospital to Sadashivanagar police station.
Dr M S Shiva Prasad, a nominated member of the BBMP Council and a doctor at the hospital, alleged that the police have not taken any action against the woman who attacked the duty doctor. “The doctor was assaulted for no fault of his,” he maintained.
Background
Piyush Singh, the 10-year-old son of Narayan Singh, a resident of Devasandra Main Road at K R Puram, injured his leg in an accident at about 2 pm on Monday. He was brought to the hospital at 7 pm and Dr Sana attended the case. After the initial check-up, the boy was sent to the x-ray section.
While the x-ray was being taken, the doctor tried to place the leg properly to get an accurate image of the broken limb.
The boy screamed in pain, following which his mother, who had accompanied him, hit Dr Sana in the face and head repeatedly.
Dr Sana was the only doctor at that time and nurses and helpers, who were on the spot, controlled the woman. Dr Sana was helped by his colleagues. The boy was shifted to Vegas hospital in Malleswaram later.
Meanwhile, Sadashivanagar police maintained that they cannot take any action against the boy’s mother.
“How can we arrest a mother when her son is being examined by a doctor? Any parent would get agitated in such a situation,” the police said.
“We are not registering a case in this regard. The issue has to be settled among themselves (doctor and the boy’s family),” said a police officer.
The attack by a patient’s kin will only send negative signals among the medical fraternity, said V C Shanmuganamdam, Secretary of the Indian Medical Association. “Doctors will adopt defensive practices by laying down many clauses before admitting patients and it will only put other patients at incovenience,” he added.
Dr Naresh Shetty, President, M S Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, said, “The doctors are also human beings and they cannot be assaulted this way. We will assure the safety of our doctors in all possible manner.”