St George-s Hospital doctor texts Dean, HOD before -suicide attempt-. Medical check-up finds no injection marks or chemical reaction; top bosses say it-s pressure tactic to seek transfer to JJ Hospital
St Georgeâ??s Hospital in CST, where the in-service second-year postgraduate student is currently posted. The in-service 2nd year PG student sent an SMS last afternoon to his seniors about injecting himself with local anaesthesia and potassium chloride
On Saturday afternoon, an in-service second-year postgraduate student attached to Grant Medical College, sent a text message to his seniors hinting that he was attempting suicide since his wish for a transfer to JJ Hospital hadn’t been granted.
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He was immediately rushed to the medical intensive care unit of JJ hospital at 1 pm and senior doctors including the dean rushed to the MICU. According to Dr T P Lahane — Dean of Grant Medical College which oversees JJ Hospital and its peripheral hospitals such as St George’s Hospital, Cama Hospital and GT Hospital — he was conscious. “Upon clinical examination, we found all his parameters were normal, which was surprising.”
Dr Lahane said the second-year postgraduate student had told the doctors who were treating him that he had injected himself with xylocaine local anesthesia and Kcl potassium chloride. He was in his hostel room and had sent the message to Dr Vijay Joglekar, professor and head of the medicine department, at 12.15 pm.
“We took his electrocardiogram ECG which showed normal heart beats and also checked the level of potassium in his blood which was normal. We did not find any needle marks anywhere on his body. However, he has been kept under observation and the police have been informed,” Dr Lahane said. The Dean added that had the doctor, who is probably in his early 30s, taken a potassium chloride injection, the potassium levels in his blood would have risen leading to instant death due to cardiac arrest. “This injection Kcl is given to those patients who have low potassium levels. It’s a condition seen in those complaining of diarrhea, vomiting etc,” he added.
Problem child
On Friday, the in-service second-year postgraduate student met Dr Lahane at his office, requesting a transfer from St George’s to JJ. He has previously made this request to Dr Joglekar as well, however, it was not granted. Dr Lahane said, “As per University rules, every postgraduate student has to work in the peripheral hospitals.”
Asked why the in-service PG doctor was keen on the transfer, Dr Lahane said, “He was not interested in working at peripheral hospitals and wanted to work at JJ. After being refused by everyone, he made an attempt to put pressure on the professor and HOD by pretending to attempt suicide.” A senior doctor said, “We have information that he used connections in the ministry of medical education to get a transfer, too.”
Dr Lahane said the doctor will be asked to undergo counselling sessions. His parents have also been contacted.
The Medical Superintendent at St George’s Hospital Dr Jagdish Bhawani said, “He has been complaining about his unit heads shouting at him for not doing his work properly, which is absurd. The doctor has come here to learn and work. Parents scold children but they can’t threaten them by saying they will attempt suicide.”
The in-service second-year postgraduate student, who has over five years of experience as an MBBS doctor, is a resident doctor in a team headed by Dr Rohan Sequeira, senior consultant physician, associate professor, and head of the medicine unit. Dr Sequeira, said, “He has always misbehaved and shown insubordination. Instead of understanding procedures, he-d question the authority of the seniors and create hurdles while treating patients. Just last week, he was on OPD duty, which usually sees 250-300 patients daily. He left without informing anyone. After several frantic attempts, he sent an SMS saying he was going for a protest at JJ Hospital against Dr Joglekar.
Dr Rohan Sequira
Dr Sequeira added, “The doctor who attempted suicide would say, ‘Even if I fail 10 times, I will teach all these people a lesson’. I would ignore this threat, but at JJ hospital, Doctor told some resident doctors, ‘See how all senior doctors are running for me’. In the afternoon, at JJ Hospital’s MICU, when I visited him, he was offering evasive replies to the police about the suicide attempt.” When asked if he would accept the doctor back in his unit, Dr Sequeira said, “In the larger interest of the public and safety, I don’t want to.”
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