Death of a doctor at the hands of patients’ relatives!

We strongly condemn the killing of a doctor by the family members of a patient, who also died allegedly due to wrong treatment, in Khulna. The incident took place on Monday night when the relatives of a deceased patient assaulted the attending doctor bringing allegations against him of wrong treatment which led to her death. According to our report, Shiuli Begum, a pregnant woman, was admitted to Dr Rakib’s clinic on Sunday, where a C-section was performed on her by him and other physicians. Although the mother and child were doing fine after the surgery, the woman’s condition started deteriorating later in the night. On Monday morning, she was recommended to be taken to Khulna Medical College Hospital. After taking her to KMCH, doctors there advised the family to take her to Dhaka and the woman died in the ambulance on her way to the capital. Enraged by her death, her family members assaulted the doctor who later died from brain haemorrhage at a local hospital.

While such behaviour by the patients’ relatives is totally unacceptable and they must be held to account for his death, we must also admit the fact that there is a lack of responsibility and accountability among the doctors which often lead to medical negligence. In this case, the doctor had a responsibility to frankly tell the patient’s family of her medical condition. Had they done so and directly sent her to Dhaka, the patient might have survived.

We are highly appreciative of what our doctors are doing at this time of a national health crisis. But there remains a trust gap in the doctor-patient relationship which is not healthy either for the patients or for the doctors. This gap needs to be bridged at all costs. At the same time, the government should formulate a specific law which will protect both the rights of the doctors and the patients. We have some laws to deal with the medical negligence cases which are hardly in use.

While we understand the grief of the deceased patient’s family members, we believe under no circumstances can the act of assaulting a doctor and killing him for “wrong treatment” be condoned. We express our deepest condolences to the bereaved family of the doctor, and hope that those involved in the incident would be punished according to our law. The reason behind the patient’s death should also be investigated.