1 week Ago By Selvaraj A
PTI photo CHENNAI: The head of the oncology department at state-run Kalaignar Centenary Super-Specialty Hospital was stabbed multiple times Wednesday in his consultation room by a man allegedly dissatisfied with the treatment his mother was receiving. Dr Balaji Jaganathan suffered serious wounds to his scalp, head, neck, back, and ear. He was rushed into emergency surgery.
“His condition is stable. He will be monitored in ICU by a team of doctors,” said hospital director Dr L Parthasarathy. The attack triggered protests by doctors and paramedics at the hospital and other medical facilities.
The Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association demanded swift action against the attacker, and called for stronger security and a central law to protect medical staff from violence. A flash strike hit services, except for emergencies. Attacker tried to escape after attack, caught by hosp staff This happened amid growing demands by doctors across India for better protection and legal safeguards against violence, especially after the rape-murder of a resident doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College on Aug 9.
Jaganathan’s attacker, identified as M Vignesh, was caught by hospital staff while attempting to flee. The automobile engineering diploma-holder was later remanded in judicial custody. Police said his mother Prema Manoharan was an advanced-stage cancer patient who had received six rounds of chemotherapy and palliative care at the hospital.
Her condition worsened at home three days ago. According to Parthasarathy, the attacker had visited the hospital a day before the attack, where he quarrelled with oncologist Jaganathan. On Wednesday, Vignesh took an outpatient slip, waited for his turn and once inside the doctor’s consultation room, locked the door and launched a vicious attack with a kitchen knife.
He discarded the bloodstained knife on the hospital premises and attempted to escape. Opposition parties condemned the assault, while criticising the DMK-led govt’s handling of law and order in the state and its “failure” in protecting doctors in medical facilities. In response, deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin visited the hospital and assured its staff and the medical community that the govt would take stringent action against the attacker.
Chennai police commissioner A Arun also visited the hospital and announced that security would be increased. State health minister Ma Subramanian reaffirmed govt’s commitment to safety, noting recent measures to improve hospital security such as the installation of CCTV cameras at over 2,000 primary health centres across Tamil Nadu in recent months..
