In a shocking incident, two doctors indulged in a verbal spat inside the operation theatre during a caesarian operation of a pregnant woman at the government-run Umaid Hospital in Jodhpur.
The incident's video footage, showing the doctors fighting and hurling abuses on each other, went viral on social media on Wednesday.
Though the initial reports stated that the newborn baby had died in the delivery room after the doctors' brawl on Tuesday, Rajasthan Medical and Health Minister Kalicharan Saraf has clarified that both the mother and the child are fine. “The baby of another woman who underwent surgery on a nearby operation table died,” he said.
The two doctors have been identified as Ashok Nainwal, assistant professor in obstetrics, and M.L. Tak, professor in anaesthesiology. The video, apparently shot by a staff in the operation theatre, shows Dr. Nainwal shouting with some offensive terms. Dr. Tak, wearing blue scrubs, is heard saying, “ Tu apni aukaat main rah !” (You stay in your limits!), as the nursing staff try to calm them both.
Inquiry ordered
Mr. Saraf said the services of Dr. Nainwal had been terminated and Dr. Tak had been placed under suspension. The Minister has appointed an inquiry committee, headed by Jodhpur Additional District Magistrate, which will submit its report by Thursday evening.
The confusion about the newborn baby's death arose because of another incident of stillbirth of a child following her mother's foetal distress two to three hours before the video was shot. Nasreen Bano, the woman in the video, and her baby were “hale and hearty”, said Mr. Saraf.
Even as the State Women's Commission has summoned Umaid Hospital's Medical Superintendent on September 1, the Rajasthan High Court took suo motu cognisance of the incident and gave directions for a detailed inquiry into the incident. The court asked Jodhpur Collector Ravi Kumar Surpur to submit the inquiry report by September 4.
A Division Bench headed by Justice G.K. Vyas at the High Court's principal seat in Jodhpur ordered the inclusion of a judicial officer in the committee, when the Collector submitted that a committee comprising three senior officers had already been set up to probe the matter. A Metropolitan Magistrate will be appointed to the committee as a judicial member.
