BENGALURU: Karnataka clinics shut down outpatient services, and emergency doctors wore black badges on Saturday to show solidarity, following the death of a gynaecologist in Rajasthan.
Dr Archana Sharma died by suicide on Tuesday, following alleged harassment when one of her pregnant patients died. Following the patient's death, the family filed a case against Dr Sharma, claiming negligence.
In a suicide note, Dr Sharma requested that harassment of her family should stop. Following this, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) called for a protest on April 2 and instructed all doctors to shut OPD services.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Dr Srinivasa S, spokesperson for IMA (Bengaluru) and chairperson for the national IMA Standing Committee for Child Health, said as it was Ugadi, a full procession could not be held in solidarity with the nationwide protests.
"However, doctors working in emergency services wore black badges and all clinics were shut down. No one was turned away in emergency circumstances, but we wanted to show our solidarity and unity," he said.
Services were barred from 6 am to 8pm on Saturday. Dr Srinivasa said they plan to up the fight in the coming weeks, to prevent issues like these in future. IMA also said it would start pressuring the central government to draft a law that prevents the harassment of doctors and their families.