The former chief of Indian Medical Association, Dr Ravi Wankhedkar, on Saturday said the suicide of Dr Vivek Rai, a resident doctor of a private hospital in Delhi, is nothing short of murder by the "system", which has created frustration "due to the shortage of basic healthcare facilities".
According to DCP south, the doctor died on April 30 allegedly by suicide at his residence in Malviya Nagar. A suicide note was found but no reason for suicide was mentioned in the note, the DCP said.
"He was doing Covid duty since one month and was dealing with ICU patients every day and was providing CPR and ACLS for about seven to eight patients per day out of which not many survived," Dr Wankhedkar wrote.
"Due to this frustrating situation he was into, he took such a difficult decision of ending his own life than living with the suffering and emotions of the people who died on his watch," the former IMA chief wrote.
{{/usCountry}}"Due to this frustrating situation he was into, he took such a difficult decision of ending his own life than living with the suffering and emotions of the people who died on his watch," the former IMA chief wrote.
{{/usCountry}}35-year-old Dr Vivek Rai was a brilliant doctor from Gorakhpur and has helped save a hundred lives in the Covid era, Dr Wankhedkar said.
"This brings into focus the tremendous emotional strain healthcare workers are having while managing the Covid-19 crisis. This death of a young doctor is nothing short of murder by the system, which has created frustrations due to shortages of basic health care facilities. Bad science, bad politics and bad governance," the doctor tweeted.
Dr Vivek was married in November and his wife is in two months of her pregnancy, Dr Wankhedkar added.
The healthcare system has come under immense pressure in April as India is fighting its worst battle with the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The country is not only seeing the highest number of daily infections but also the highest number of daily deaths, as many are dying without getting hospital beds, oxygen. On Saturday, around 12 people died at Delhi's Batra Hospital as it ran out of oxygen for 1.5 hours.