Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, left, with state Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian and others during a visit to Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital after its oncologist Balaji was stabbed by the son of a patient.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: In a shocking incident, a medical oncologist on duty suffered serious injuries on Wednesday morning after he was stabbed multiple times by the son of a cancer patient at the Kalaignar Centenary Multispecialty Hospital (KCMSH) here. J Balaji, who is being treated at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where his condition is stated to be stable, was stabbed by 26-year-old Vigneswaran who alleged negligence on the part of the doctor while treating his mother, who has now developed breathing issues.
The incident, which comes months after a woman doctor was raped and murdered in Kolkata sparking outrage across the country, highlighted the lack of security and shortage of doctors in government hospitals in Tamil Nadu where about 30 per cent of postings remain vacant.
Vignesh, along with his friends, entered the hospital with an out-patient token and reached Balaji’s OP room at around 10.30 am. Since the oncologist knew Vignesh as the attender of his patient, he allowed the latter inside the room following which an argument ensued. Balaji is an associate professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at the KCMSH.
“The man suddenly took a kitchen knife from his pocket and began stabbing the doctor. The oncologist was stabbed four times in his head, and once on his neck, shoulder, and ear. In total, he suffered seven stab injuries. The doctor is a cardiac patient and has a pacemaker. For now, his condition is stable,” L Parthasarathy, Director, KCMSH, said.
Health Minister Ma Subramanian, who came under all-round attack from opposition parties on the issue, told reporters in the evening that the doctor was doing fine. “I spoke to him on video call,” he said. Doctors at the KCMSH swung into action by launching an impromptu protest against the attack on their senior colleague and demanding strict action against the culprit.
Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA) announced an indefinite strike in protest against the incident, while the TN Chapter of Indian Medical Association will not attend to work till 6 pm on Thursday. They said only emergency services would function during the strike.
A circular issued in the evening asked authorities to install CCTV cameras in all hospitals and primary health centres besides beefing up security, including thermal screening of visitors and maintaining a visitors’ log.
Vignesh was booked under various sections of the BNS, even as the accused’s mother appeared on television channels to plead innocence on the part of her son. Vignesh is believed to have attacked the doctor after a private hospital is believed to have told him that wrong treatment may have led to breathing issues in his mother.
Videos shot at the hospital showed Vignesh walking along the corridor casually and throwing the knife he used to stab the doctor before he was caught by by-standers and roughed up. “You guys aren’t bothered about the wrong treatment he gave to my mother,” the accused is heard telling the crowd.
Several doctors took to X and other social media platforms to talk about the “excellent track record” of Balaji, who they said is a very “experienced oncologist” and has treated hundreds of patients.
The 26-year-old mother had been receiving treatment from the doctor for the past six months. “Since everyone in the hospital knew him, they didn’t stop him. Nobody could have thought he had a knife with him. He was handed over to police,” Subramanian said.
As the incident created an uproar, Chief Minister M K Stalin condemned the incident and directed the Health Department to take enough measures to protect doctors. “The selfless work of our government doctors is immeasurable in providing appropriate treatment to patients. It is our duty to ensure their safety during work. The government will take all measures to prevent such incidents from recuring in the future,” he said.
Doctors told DH that the incident was not merely a security breach but highlights the stress levels of doctors who handle too many patients due to short-staff in government institutions.
TNGDA President Dr K Senthil asked why should doctors work when they don’t have security. “We have been raising this issue with the government for the past several years but nothing has been done to beef up security within government hospitals,” Senthil rued.
He said about 5 lakh people visit government hospitals across the state everyday with about 60,000 patients getting treated as in-patients but the government has ignored the security of doctors.
“There are police outposts in government medical college hospitals but the men posted there are generally unfit for policing. They don’t even go on rounds,” the doctor added.
Sai Lakshmikantha Bharathi, a doctor and son of DMK leader R S Bharathi, said medical colleges should not be treated like PHCs and there should be a proper referral system in place.
“Every Government Medical College OPD sees a minimum of 200 patients on an average. With the existing manpower shortage it's highly impossible to give 100% care to all the patients. Either increase the man power or restrict OP numbers according to the number of Doctors available,” he wrote on X.
Bharathi also said the health department is crumbling with unimaginable expectations with unbelievably less man power. “Need immediate intervention to solve the issue. The bureaucracy is killing the department which is a jewel in any government for that matter. Revive the health department. Relieve us from the clutches of useless IAS officers who are pushing privatization relentlessly,” he added.