We had a period of relative calm, but this, apparently and disappointingly, has ended. The 'patients' relatives vs doctors and medical staff' bogey has reared its ugly head. A recent report in this paper detailed how an X-ray technician was brutally assaulted and a doctor manhandled at a hospital in Govandi. Relatives of a patient were unhappy with the treatment and made a doctor and an X-ray technician their target.

A discussion between the two parties spiralled out of control, and soon, the doctor was manhandled. While security guards rushed to help, the technician was beaten with an iron rod while they walked outside the ward. Sometime ago, we had reported a spate of such clashes. There had been troubling incidents at first, but, when there were several with doctors being attacked, the Indian Medical Association and allied branches of medical colleges and associations had staged a protest at Azad Maidan.