Faridkot, May 16
The registration of a case of medical negligence against a doctor at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital Faridkot following the death of a 60-year-old patient and the subsequent alleged manhandling of the doctor by the relatives of the deceased has stirred a controversy.
Protesting against the case, the doctors at the medical college have started an indefinite strike, boycotting the OPDs and demanding registration of a criminal case against those who manhandled the doctor. On the contrary, the deceased’s kin want the police to amend the FIR to book the doctor for culpable homicide for deliberate negligence resulting in the death of the patient.
But in this stand off, it is the patients who are at the receiving end in the absence of OPD services. The doctors intensified their agitation today, calling upon their colleagues in Amritsar and Patiala medical colleges to join the stir, and asking the chemists in the area to close their shops, thus making the going difficult for the indoor patients.
The closure of OPD caused problems to the patients who travel from distant places, said JC Sanadhya.
“We are trying to sort out the issue and an inquiry into the incident is being conducted,” said Gian Chand Ahir, the principal of the medical college.
However the doctors accused the police of not helping them when they were being manhandled. The patient was critically ill due to bilateral pneumonia, claimed the doctors, alleging that the police is working under political pressure.
Meanwhile, the relatives of the deceased accused the doctor on duty of criminal negligence. “Due to his critical condition, the patient needed ventilator as physically he was unable to breathe. So, on the recommendation of a private doctor, we rushed him to the medical college on May 7,” claimed the relatives.
“But the doctors failed to take the patient to the ventilator and kept us waiting,” alleged Parmiderpal Singh, a nephew of the deceased.
