{"id":974620,"date":"2018-03-12T16:49:26","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T08:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=974620"},"modified":"2018-03-12T16:49:26","modified_gmt":"2018-03-12T08:49:26","slug":"indian-doctors-suspended-after-using-severed-leg-as-pillow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/974620\/indian-doctors-suspended-after-using-severed-leg-as-pillow","title":{"rendered":"Indian doctors suspended after using severed leg as pillow"},"content":{"rendered":"
Two doctors have been suspended pending an investigation at the government-run hospital in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. Image: AFP\/Manan Vatsyayana<\/p><\/div>\n
Indian authorities have suspended two doctors and launched an investigation after a patient’s severed leg was used as a pillow to prop up his head, a hospital official said Sunday.<\/p>\n
Administrators at the government-run hospital in Uttar Pradesh state vowed “strict action” after images emerged showing the patient on a stretcher with the amputated limb being used as a headrest.<\/p>\n
“We have set up a four-member committee to find out who put the severed leg under the patient’s head,” said Sadhna Kaushik, principal of the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College and Hospital in Jhansi, told AFP.<\/p>\n
“Strict action will be taken if our staff is found at fault.”<\/p>\n
Two doctors have been suspended pending investigation, she added.<\/p>\n
The man, identified as 28-year-old Ghanshyam, was seriously injured in a bus accident.<\/p>\n
His relatives told the local NDTV news network that hospital staff ignored their requests that Ghanshyam, who goes by one name, be given a pillow.<\/p>\n
“When we reached the hospital, we saw his leg being used as a headrest,” Janaki Prasad, a relative, told NDTV.<\/p>\n
“I repeatedly asked the doctors to intervene but they refused,” Prasad added, saying Ghanshyam’s relatives eventually bought a pillow from a local market.<\/p>\n
Kaushik said the patient was given “immediate” medical attention and one of his relatives placed the leg under his head, the Press Trust of India reported.<\/p>\n
“The doctor looked for something to raise his head. The patient’s attendant used the leg,” she told PTI.<\/p>\n
India’s state-run hospitals are often ill-equipped, severely underfunded and stretched to breaking point. Just a handful of specialists are available to treat millions.<\/p>\n
Uttar Pradesh, which is home to 200 million people, is one of India’s poorest states, and long waits are common for even minor treatments.<\/p>\n
Medical negligence is not uncommon either.<\/p>\n