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New Delhi: A doctor of a hospital in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla was sacked days after a video of him engaging in a brawl with a patient surfaced on social media. The senior resident doctor, Raghav Narula, allegedly thrashed the patient, Arjun Singh at Shimla's Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) after the latter objected to the former's rude behaviour.
The Himachal Pradesh government terminated the services of the doctor after “misconduct”, “misbehaviour” and “acts unbecoming of a public servant’ were found on his part. An FIR was registered against the doctor for allegedly physically assaulting the patient on a hospital bed.
What happened at Shimla hospital
The incident took place on December 22 when the patient went to the IGMC for a medical check-up. Singh alleged that when the doctor inquired about his health condition, he could not respond appropriately due to his medical condition and oxygen shortage. Angered by this, the doctor allegedly spoke to him rudely and referred to him as "tu" instead of "tum". The patient said that he objected to the doctor's manner of speaking and asked if he spoke to his family members like that, leading to a heated argument between the two.
The doctor, however, claimed that the patient provoked him and used abusive language against him and his family.
Singh said in his complaint that the doctor "aggressive, threatening and repeatedly punched him on the face and body, causing bleeding from the nose and mouth and injuries to different parts of his body."
A video of the incident, which was widely circulated on social media, showed the doctor repeatedly hitting Panwar and punching on his face while he lay on the bed. The patient was also seen kicking the doctor.
Hospital's probe panel found both doctor, patient at fault
Following the incident, Shimla IGMC hospital administration constituted a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the matter. The panel in its report found both parties at fault.
“Both the patient and the senior resident doctor were responsible for the incident, which amounted to misconduct, misbehaviour, acts unbecoming of a public servant, and violation of the Resident Doctor Policy-2025,” an order issued on Wednesday evening by the director of medical education and research said.
