Medical fraternity in shock after attack on doctor following maternal death

The violent attack on a senior gynaecologist while on duty at Perinthalmanna district hospital on Thursday has sent shock waves across the medical fraternity, as the attack seems to have been in retaliation against the death of a woman following delivery at the hospital a week ago.

The woman had died following childbirth due to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) due to atonic uterus (a life-threatening condition wherein the uterus fails to contract after delivery, causing excessive bleeding). This is a serious obstetric complication, which may not always be preventable.

According to doctors, the woman had been given all possible care and protocol-based treatment and she had been referred to a higher facility near by. But despite all efforts, she could not be saved.

The deceased woman’s relatives barged into the examination room of the doctor nine days after the incident and physically assaulted the doctor, causing her grievous injuries. She has been admitted to the hospital

The fact that this was a pre-meditated act has deeply alarmed the medical fraternity, whose safety at workplaces has always been a sensitive issue that even legislations have not been able to guarantee.

Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association, Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Assoiation and the Indian Medical Association have strongly condemned the incident. Doctors will not henceforth offer their services where there is no safety, the professional bodies said in strongly worded statements here

Portrayal of obstetric complications that arise during delivery as medical negligence, followed by physical violence against hospital and healthcare workers has been happening way too often in Kerala in recent times.

Terming every hospital death as negligence or medical error is a dangerous trend and this has to stop because there are several medical complications which cannot be predicted, doctors point out.

More than 80 public hospitals in the State, which are delivery points, currently lack adequate human resources to conduct safe deliveries and this is something that the government should acknowledge, KGMOA said.

It has been repeatedly brought to the attention of the authorities that adequate facilities and adequate human resources are required in these hospitals but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears, KGMOA said

Every delivery point which offers comprehensive emergency obstetric services should have a team of seven Ob-gyn specialists, seven pediatricians and seven anaesthesiologists if the hospital is to provide 24-hour obstetric services. These hospitals should also have proper operation theatres, blood banks or blood storage facilities and other physical infrastructure required for emergency medical management.

Strengthening of facilities at all delivery points is the only answer to ensure the safety of mothers as well as doctors attending to them, KGMOA pointed out.

If Kerala has the lowest maternal mortality in the country, it is due to the tireless efforts over the years by the Ob-Gyn specialists and health workers. No developed nation has achieved zero MMR status which means that even with all modern medical care, mothers do die of obstetric complications

IMA has threatened to launch a State-wide strike if the perpetrators of the violence attack on doctors are not arrested. The government should take necessary measures to protect health workers and provide them enhanced safety.

IMA also expressed fears that the repeated incidents will force young medical graduates to shun Obstetrics and Gynaecology as their postgraduate specialisation, which could be detrimental to the State’s maternal and child care sector in the long run

The medical fraternity has also called upon the public in Kerala to raise their voices against such brutal attacks on healthcare workers as protecting the safety and dignity of healthcare workers was a collective responsibility