Mumbai docs seek justice for Rajasthan gynaecologist who died by suicide

The Association of Medical Consultants Mumbai has written a letter to the chief minister of Rajasthan condemning the police action of registering a murder case against an obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Archana Sharma compelling her to die of suicideA pregnant woman under the care of Dr Sharma had died of postpartum haemorrhage after which a murder case was filed against Dr SharmaThe association which is a registered body with over 13000 private medical practitioners claims that the police violated the fundamental principles of deciding medical negligence as laid down by the Supreme Court in its Jacob Mathew case judgment It mandated a reference to a medical board before filing any case against a doctor and had raised concern about such arbitrary and coercive police actionCase filed under pressureDr Nilima Vaidya Bhamare President of the Association and also a practising obstetrician and gynaecologist said ldquoWe are aghast by the manner in which our fellow colleague Dr Archana Sharma was accused and humiliated by people with a vested interest in Lalsot Dausa district in Rajasthan Dr Sharma was accused of committing lsquomurderrsquo by local influential thugs and the worst the local Lalsot police who under due pressure even registered an offence under section 302 against her for an offence she had never committedrdquoldquoDr Sharma had agreed to handle the complicated case of the pregnant woman when other hospitals had refused admission She did her best to save the woman even when she developed postpartum haemorrhage also called PPH when a woman has heavy bleeding after giving birth a serious complication The woman had earlier delivered twin girls in the same hospital run by Dr Sharma a couple of years agordquo said Dr BhamareldquoEven after the demise the family had no objection rather they took the body for final rites to their village However they later returned with the body along with the instigators and a mob of hundreds of people demanding action against the hospital and Dr Sharmardquo said Dr BhamareldquoOur first reaction was that we will be scared to take any complicated cases and it is not worth risking our and our familyrsquos lives We must understand that PPH is a postdelivery complication and it is not due to negligence on the part of the treating doctor Dr Sharma had given up a plump posting in a government hospital and started practice in a smaller town with the aim of giving quality medical care to women there Unfortunately the locals who had witnessed all the good work done by Dr Sharma and Dr Suneet Upadhyay a practising psychiatrist and managing director at Anand hospital did not come forward to support themrdquo said Dr BhamareWhen asked if the chief minister of Rajasthan had reverted to their letter Dr Bhamare said no stating ldquoWe are in touch with various medical associations in Rajasthan and this is a case of violence against humanity We are demanding a central tollfree number lsquosave the savioursrsquo so that in case of similar situations doctors and medical staff wonrsquot be hacked to death or forced to end their life by a mob with vested interestsrdquoIMA condemns incidentDr Santosh Kadam vice president Indian Medical Association IMA Maharashtra ldquoThis is a classic example of contempt of court by the Rajasthan police and all concerned officers who worked in connivance with the protesting parties demanding coercive action of registering a case of murder against the treating doctor They all should be tried for not only contempt of court but also for abetting suicide under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code If police without application of mind start registering offences of murder for any death under medical care then no doctor will be able to practice or treat dire emergency casesrdquoCM tweets in supportAmidst the nationwide protest by doctorsrsquo associations Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted ldquoThe suicide of Dr Archana Sharma is deeply saddening We consider doctors as gods To save the life of patients every doctor tries their best but in case of any mishap it is not justified to blame the doctorsrdquo The CM has assured a thorough investigation and appropriate action