Patient's relative assaults resident doctor at JJ, held

An impatient relative of a patient, who was slated for cataract surgery, assaulted a second-year resident doctor from JJ Hospital. The JJ Marg police have arrested the accused.

According to the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), the patient was slated for the procedure on Tuesday. The patient was seated and given food but was not allotted a bed as all the beds had been occupied. There were five other cataract patients who too didn't have beds, said the doctors' body.

"While the doctor was looking for a bed, the patient started talking rudely and using abusive language," said Dr Sagar Mundada, president of central MARD. The relative then began threatening and held the doctor by his shirt collar even as the staff and security personnel tried to control him.

Dr TP Lahane, dean of JJ Hospital said, "It is a sad incident. The accused is a Dongri resident. Our doctor had explained the patient's relative about shortage of beds. He was arranging for the same but the relative lost his cool."

Lahane added that though he and Dr Ragini Parekh, the head of the ophthalmology department tried to intervene, the relative spoke rudely.
"The person's attitude wasn't right. He started calling people on phone and threatened us. Police were called in and the person was handed to them. An FIR has been registered by the JJ Marg police under the Doctors' Protection Act," said Dr Lahane.

To create awareness on the Act, the hospital has put up 14 boards at strategic locations and installed several CCTV cameras.