Patient Dies While ‘Doctors Argue Over Treatment’

BHUBANESWAR:
A 35-year-old man in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district died on Sunday while doctors attending to him were allegedly involved in a heated argument over his treatment. Chief District Medical Officer Basudev Behera has promised an inquiry, while the Dhenkanal district administration has sought a report on the matter.
The deceased, Triloka Sahoo, was a resident of Gundurapashi village in Gondia block. He had complained of chest pain, following which his family members admitted him to Sriramchandrapur Community Health Centre in Gondia.
Sahoo was then shifted to Dhenakanal District Headquarters Hospital (DHH), where his treatment was allegedly delayed because of an argument between the doctor who admitted him, and the doctor in the medicine department to whom the patient was referred. They allegedly argued over whether Sahoo needed an operation, his relatives claimed.
“One doctor asked the other to operate on my brother. A heated argument followed between the two doctors. While my brother was in excruciating pain, the doctors continued their argument. Left unattended, my brother died,” said Rabi Narayan Sahoo, brother of the deceased.
The family staged a blockade near Gondia by placing the body on the road and demanded compensation of Rs 10 lakh.
The district administration ordered compensation of Rs 30,000 for the deceased, and the body has been sent for postmortem. Sahoo is survived by his wife and six-month-old baby.