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‘Didn’t kill anyone’: Doctor blamed for patient’s death leaves suicide note
The Rajasthan doctor who died by suicide was charged with murder by the police. The move came days after the Supreme Court reiterated that a doctor couldn’t be charged with negligence if the patient does not survive in spite of treatment
JAIPUR: Medical staffers including doctors in Jaipur and Dausa went on strike on Wednesday after a 40-year-old woman doctor, blamed for the death of a patient, died by suicide on Tuesday. Doctors said she was being harassed after a first information report (FIR) was against her by the Rajasthan Police.
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said it wasn’t justified to accuse doctors when any unfortunate incident happens. “If doctors will be intimidated like this, then how will they be able to do their work with confidence? We all should think about how such treatment can be done to the doctors who served all by risking their lives during Corona,” he said.
Medical personnel in Jaipur and Dausa held a protest march in the two districts to seek action against the policemen for registering a murder case against the doctor after the death of a 22-yer-old pregnant women under her care at a private hospital in Dausa.
Also Read: Doctor can’t be held guilty of negligence just because a patient died, rules Supreme Court
In a suicide note that she left behind, the doctor called for putting a stop to harassment of innocent doctors
“I love my husband and children. They should not be troubled after my death. I have done nothing wrong and not killed anyone. Postpartum hemorrhage is a known complication – stop harassing doctors for the same. My death might prove my innocence,” she said in the note, according to the police.
She continued: “Stop harassing innocent doctors.”
Dr Vijay Kapoor, secretary of Rajasthan’s private hospitals and nursing homes association, demanded suspension of police officers who booked the doctor on murder charges.
Dausa superintendent of police Anil Kumar said the FIR was registered as part of the state’s policy of free registration of FIRs. “If nothing is found in the investigation against the accused, the case would have been closed,” Kumar said.
Kumar said a FIR for abetment to suicide has been registered on a complaint by the doctor’s family against those who led the protest on Monday against the private hospital run by the doctor and her husband in Lalsot town
The Rajasthan Women Commission has taken cognisance of the case and sought a report from police department in seven days.
Rehana Riaz, who heads the commission, said they have sought a factual report from the state police in seven days. “The incident is serious and unfortunate,” she said..
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