Bengaluru: Doctors, medical students, and interns attached to M.S. Ramaiah College and Hospital took a protest march on Tuesday afternoon, condemning an attack on one of their colleagues by family members of a 10-year-old boy, who had been taken to the hospital for treatment.
Orthopaedic Dr Suresh Sana, a native of Andhra Pradesh and who has been working with the hospital for the last six months, was allegedly slapped while on duty on Monday night.
Dr Suresh’s colleague Dr Jerryl Jones said that the 10-year-old boy was brought to the hospital by his relatives around 8 pm on Monday with a fractured leg. Dr Suresh administered a painkiller and took the boy for an X-ray. Dr Suresh and a lab technician tried to move the boy’s leg to position for the X-ray.
“Dr Suresh did not even have to be present during the X-ray, but had insisted on accompanying the patient as he was a small boy. It is necessary that the limb is in correct position before the X-ray is taken, otherwise it will not be clear.
But the family members of the boy started shouting at Dr Suresh, saying there was an unnecessary delay in treating the boy. They abused Dr Suresh and when he tried to calm them down, one of the family members slapped Dr Suresh so hard that he fell down,” said Dr Jerryl.
Dr Suresh, who suffered a contusion in the head, had to be admitted in the same hospital. He underwent CT and MRI scans, and is recovering.
“Even after the incident, we continued to treat the child until his family decided to take him to another hospital. We called the Sadashivanagar police immediately and filed a complaint, but no action was taken by them. Nearly 200 doctors protested on Tuesday afternoon.
After the protest, we met the inspector and demanded that the police should initiate action against the suspects. But we were told to forget about the incident and move on. The police said the family members of the boy were on the edge and the slapping incident was just an act of frustration,” said Dr Jerryl.
“What if the same thing had happened to a policeman on duty? Would they have brushed it off too? We dedicate ourselves to saving lives, and such incidents do not help our cause one bit. A similar incident occurred at Bowring Hospital a few days ago. How are we expected to work like this?” he asked.
Meanwhile, the president of M.S Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, Dr Naresh Shetty, said, “Alleging that the X-ray and CT scan reports of her son were getting delayed, the woman and some by-standers reportedly assaulted Dr Suresh on Monday night. The family seemed impatient.
The X-ray and CT scan of the child had to be verified by a neurosurgeon before it was handed to the mother and it takes a little time. People have to be patient in such cases. Doctors cannot be assaulted. We would like to assure all our doctors that they will be protected.” The Sadashivanagar police said they would need 24 hours to work on the complaint and to take action.
