United News of Bangladesh

Interns at Dinajpur Medical College Hospital went on work abstention early Monday protesting ‘attacks on physicians by a patients’ relatives’. The interns began the protest around 3:30 am locking the gate of emergency department, hospital sources said. According to hospital authorities, a 65-year-old patient, Abdus Samad from Ramnagar in the city, was admitted to the emergency department around 12:30 am in critical condition after suffering a heart attack. He was later transferred to the CCU of the cardiac ward and the patient’s relatives were informed about his critical condition. He died within an hour of treatment around 1:30 am. Following his death, his relatives allegedly assaulted attending medical officer, Dr. Abdullah Al Muin.  The relatives took the body away around 3:30 am. Medical services including patient admission were disrupted as intern doctors locked the emergency department gate following the chaos. However, hospital authorities denied that the gate had been locked and new patient admissions resumed at around 9:30 am. Additional police have been deployed at the hospital. Kotwali Police Station has detained a relative of the deceased patient, Yakub Ali, in connection with the alleged assault on the doctor. To resolve the situation, hospital director Dr. Fazlur Rahman called a meeting with department heads and protesting interns around 12 pm.