MillenniumPost
Bengal

'Latecomer' doctor refuses to treat elderly

Kolkata: A doctor from private hospital in Dhakuria wrote on a patient's prescription that he would not attend the patient in future and urged the hospital authorities to refund the fees taken from him and not to fix any appoint for the patient.

The incident triggered a sense of shock among various sections people in the city as to how a doctor whose primary job is to provide treatment to the patients can single out a patient and write on his prescription that he would not treat the patient.

A 68-year-old man had been suffering from kidney related problems and had undergone a dialysis at this hospital a number of times in the past.

He was asked to appear in the hospital on Tuesday. The family members of the patient had a prior appointment at the hospital.

They alleged that the elderly man had to wait for a long time as the doctor did not come on time.

They said as the patient started having pain in his leg due to some other health ailments, they urged the staff members of the hospital to call up the doctor as further delay in his dialysis would put him in trouble. The staff members advised the patient's relatives to wait for sometime.

When the doctor finally arrived he called the patient and wrote on his prescription that this patient should not be given appointment in future.

The doctor also urged the hospital authorities that the fees of the patient must be refunded as the "time of appointment was delayed".

The patient's daughter said how a doctor can refuse to treat a patient. She asked why the doctor took such a drastic step. A senior official of the hospital said that they fix appointments on the basis of what the doctors say. "The doctor came late but we extended all our cooperation to the patient and his family members," the official said.

The official further said: "We had no hand in fixing the time of the appointment. It was fixed at a time suggested by him (the doctor). The hospital will take action against him."

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