News Mania Desk/ Sohom Chatterjee / 9th September 2024
West Bengal Joint Platform of Doctors, a doctors’ front that safeguards the interests of doctors, have sent a letter to TMC MP and National General Secretary of TMC Abhishek Banerjee in demand of an unconditional apology for an ‘untrue and incendiary statement on social media’. This letter was sent to Banerjee in response to a recent tweet by the MP which claimed that a young boy died in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College due to the protests by the young doctors.
The tweet from September 6 stated, “A young boy from Konnagar lost his life today following a road accident, after BLEEDING FOR 3 HOURS WITHOUT RECEIVING MEDICAL ATTENTION, a consequence of the ongoing protest by doctors in response to the #RGKar incident. While the demands of the junior doctors are both fair and valid, I urge them to protest in a way that doesn’t disrupt essential medical services. Allowing a death due to PREVENTABLE NEGLECT is tantamount to CULPABLE HOMICIDE. If the protest has to continue, it should be done constructively, with empathy and humanity, ensuring no more lives are put at risk through inaction or neglect.”
In response to this claim by Abhishek Banerjee, the doctors issued a letter that read, “We are writing to formally protest and express deep concern regarding the untrue and malicious statement you posted on your X (formerly Twitter) handle on September 6, 2024, at 10:27 pm.”
“In your post, you stated that a young boy from Konnagar lost his life today following a road accident, after bleeding for 3 hours without receiving medical attention, a consequence of ongoing protest by doctors in response to the #RGkar incident.”
The letter claimed that Banerjee’s statement is categorically false and misleading. “The young male patient, suffering from polytrauma due to a tragic road accident, was referred to a higher center from Srirampur and was received at R.G. Kar Medical College promptly at 9:10 AM on the same day, September 6, 2024. The doctors on duty immediately attended to him and continued to provide medical care at several intervals until his unfortunate demise at 12:30 PM, as noted in the provisional death certificate. The bed head tickets as well as the statement of the MSVP of RGKMCH will categorically substantiate our claim and refute your post.”
They also countered the fact that the patient did “bleed for 3 hours without receiving medical attention.”
“Your assertion lacks any foundation in truth and disregards the efforts made by the medical professionals who did everything within their power to save the patient’s life. Your public statement is not only factually incorrect but also potentially dangerous. By spreading such misinformation, you are risking inciting violence and hostility against the medical community, which is already under immense pressure and shock after the heinous crime committed against a trainee doctor at RGKMCH on August 9, 2024. Such baseless accusations further demoralize healthcare professionals who are struggling to serve the people of this state, despite the hostile conditions they currently face.”
“In light of these facts, we demand that you issue an unconditional public apology to the medical fraternity and immediately retract your false statement. It is imperative that political leaders like yourself exercise responsibility and ensure that your words do not inflame tensions or lead to further unrest. We expect you to set the record straight and take corrective action promptly to prevent any potential repercussions arising from your misleading post,” the letter concluded.
The junior doctors are now under a lot of pressure as CJI DY Chandrachud said in the High Court today that the court would not be able to help the protesting doctors if the government takes any actions against them if they do not return to work before 5 pm, September 10.
