Doctors from private and government hospitals came together on Monday to protest against the increasing number of attacks on medical professionals by aggrieved relatives of patients. Medical professionals representing 24 different organisations, including Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Associations (PHANA), Indian Medical Association (Karnataka unit) and Karnataka Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA), staged a four-hour dharna at Freedom Park. They sought strict enforcement of existing laws and action against those guilty of attacking healthcare personnel.
The protesting doctors submitted a memorandum seeking effective implementation of the Karnataka Prohibition of Violence against Medicare Service Personnel and Damage to Property in Medicare Service Institutions Act, 2009, to Home Minister K.J. George PHANA president Nagendra Swamy S.C. recalled the latest incident wherein doctors and nursing staff of Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital were assaulted and medical equipment worth lakhs of rupees was damaged.
