Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · South Asian J Cancer 2020; 09(04): 257-260
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1726137
Review Article

Violence against Health Care Professionals and Facilities—Local Insights about a Global Malady

Neeraj Nagpal
1   Department of Medico Legal, Medicos Legal Action Group Trust, Chandigarh, India
,
Nimisha Nagpal
2   Department of Cornea, Sankara Netralaya Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Nilanshu Kataria
3   Department of Radiology, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Amritsar, Punjab, India
,
Purvish Parikh
4   Department of Oncology, Shalby Cancer & Research Institute, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
   Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Acts of violence against health care professionals (especially doctors) as well as facilities are a growing global problem. In our country, it has taken an unfortunate dramatic turn of the involvement of a mob—a ragtag group of persons who organize and perpetrate the crime based on community, caste, religion, or political affiliations. This crucial factor is the fundamental difference in what we face as compared with the so-called Yi Nao phenomenon of China. In India, the mob gathers and indulges in acts of violence, intimidation, and blackmail at the behest of its “leader,” often having no direct relationship with the deceased patient. It is premeditated and systematic vandalism. Often it is also associated with financial gain to the perpetrators through extortion and blackmail, adding to the woes of the health care professionals and hospital facility. We discuss what is the primary goal and what is a byproduct in this cycles of violence against the people who are doing their best to save the lives of patients. Unless the governments and the courts take this matter seriously as well as follow-up with corrective measures, the future looks bleak for all stakeholders.

Keywords

doctors - medical negligence - soft targets - vulnerable - mob - inadequate - law


Publication History

Article published online:
12 June 2021

© 2021. MedIntel Services Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Private Ltd
A-12, Second Floor, Sector -2, NOIDA -201301, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Nagpal N. Incidents of violence against doctors in India: can these be prevented?. Natl Med J India 2017; 30 (02) 97-100
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 USA Today op-ed: Violence against Doctors and Nurses due Health Care Dysfunction. Available at: http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/02/usa-today-oped-violence-doctors-nurses -due-health-care-dysfunction.html. Accessed on March 02, 2021
  • 3 Nagpal N, Nagpal N, Kataria N. Is violence against doctors in India a mutation of the global malady. Tropical Ophthalmology 2020; 19: 31-37
    Google Scholar
  • 4 Violence against doctors: why China? Why now? What next?. Lancet 2014; 383 (99/22) 1013
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Mirza NM, Amjad AI, Bhatti AB. et al. Violence and abuse faced by junior physicians in the emergency department from patients and their caretakers: a nationwide study from Pakistan. J Emerg Med 2012; 42 (06) 727-733
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Yu Pan, Xiu hong Yang, Jiang PingHe. To be or not to be a doctor, that is the question: a review of serious incidents of violence against doctors in China from 2003–2013. Journal of Public Health 2015; 23: 111-116
    CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Ambesh P. Violence against doctors in the Indian subcontinent: a rising bane. Indian Heart J 2016; 68 (05) 749-750
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Pitcher G. BMA survey finds one-third of doctors attacked physically or verbally in 2007. Ethics, Health and Safety, HR STRATEGY, Latest News, Occupational Health, Stress, Wellbeing; 2008
  • 9 Derazon H, Nissimian S, Yosefy C, Peled R, Hay E. [Violence in the emergency department]. Harefuah 1999; 137 (03/04) 95-101, 175
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Imran N, Pervez MH, Farooq R, Asghar AR. Aggression and violence towards medical doctors and. nurses in a public health care facility in Lahore, Pakistan: A preliminary investigation. Khyber Med Univ J 2013; 5 (04) 179-184
    Google Scholar
  • 11 Ferri P, Silvestri M, Artoni C, Di Lorenzo R. Workplace violence in different settings and among various health professionals in an Italian general hospital: a cross-sectional study. Psychol Res Behav Manag 2016; 9: 263-275
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Smith M. Rise in violence against doctors in Turkey, elsewhere. CMAJ 2015; 187 (09) 643
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 13 Ortega Marlasca MM. Tackling violence against health-care workers in Spain. Lancet 2014; 384 (99/47) 955
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 Ranjan R, Meenakshi SinghM, Pal R, Das JK, Gupta S. Epidemiology of violence against medical Practitioners in a developing country (2006-2017).. J Health Res Rev 2018; 5: 153-160
    CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • 15 Assam: 73-Year-Old Doctor Lynched at Tea Estate, 21 Arrested. Available at:https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/assam-court-convicts-25-people-for-lynching-elderly-doctor-in-2019/article32840288.ece. Accessed on March 2, 2021
  • 16 25 convicted for lynching Assam Doctor Available at: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/assam-court-convicts-25-people-for-lynching-elderly-doctor-in-2019/article32840288.ece.Accessed on March 2, 2021
  • 17 Mob Assaults Doctor. Smears him with Human Excreta Kolkata News. Available at:https://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/mob-assaults-doctor-smears-him-with-human-excreta/articleshow/60294926.cms. Accessed December 28, 2019
  • 18 Mob sets hospital on fire after patients death. Available at: https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/mob-sets-hospital-on-fire-after-patient-s-death-112090900226_1.html/. Accessed December 28, 2019
  • 19 Dighe’s death: Sena plans to sue Singhania hospital for `negligence’ Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/dighes-death-sena-plans-to-sue-singhania-hospital-for-negligence/articleshow/1165652802.cms . Accessed on March 2, 2021
  • 20 Boy dies during treatment irate relatives ransack clinic residence. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Boy-dies-during-treatment-irate-relatives-ransack-clinic-residence/articleshow/35135683.cms. Accessed December 31, 2019
  • 21 Mob trashes private Indian Hospital. Available at:https://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20100413-210095.html. Accessed December 30, 2019
  • 22 Kolkata: Mob violently attacks doctors at NRS Hospital after Mohammed Sayeed’s death, police mute spectators, allege students. Available at:https://www.opindia.com/2019/06/kolkata-mob-violently-attacks-doctors-at-nrs-hospital-after-mohammed-sayeeds-death-police-mute-spectators-allege-students/. Accessed on December 30, 2019
  • 23 Hobbs FD. Violence in general practice: a survey of general practitioners’ views. BMJ 1991; 302 (67/72) 329-332
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Pakistan I. Angry mob of lawyers attacks hospital causing death of 3 patients. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2019/12/11/787109476/in-pakistan-angry-mob-of-lawyers-attack-hospital-causing-deaths-of-3-patients. Accessed December 31, 2019
  • 25 Angry mobs are attacking doctors at hospitals in India. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/angry-mobs-are-attacking-doctors-at-hospitals-in-india/2016/05/20/26820fb8-d5c3-11e5-a65b-587e721fb231_story.html. Accessed December 31, 2019
  • 26 Mob ransacks leading hospital after death local girl. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/mob-ransacks-leading-hospital-after-death-of-local-girl/articleshow/57177761.cms. Accessed December 31, 2019
  • 27 Ghosh K. Violence against doctors: a wake-up call. Indian J Med Res 2018; 148 (02) 130-133
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 28 Cop ‘Beats Up’ Doctor at Sassoon Hospital. Pune. Available at: https://www.indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/cop-beats-up-doctor-at-sassoon-hospital/. Accessed October 16, 2015
  • 29 Mob attacks Kolkata hospital after death of baby girl. Available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/mob-attacks-kolkata-hospital-after-death-of-baby-girl/articleshow/67081419.cms. Accessed December 31, 2019
  • 30 Bhattacharya S, Kaushal K, Singh A. Medical violence (Yi Nao phenomenon): its past, present, and future. CHRISMED J Health Res 2018; 5: 259
    CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • 31 Tao N. (May 7, 2012). “Hospital violence sign of doctor-patient strife”. Shanghai Daily. china.org.cn
  • 32 Hesketh T, Wu D, Mao L, Ma N. Violence against doctors in China. BMJ 2012; 345 (01) e5730
    CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • 33 Agarwal SK. Healthcare in India and violence against doctors; the missing links. Indian J Nephrol 2019; 29 (04) 221-231
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 34 Law commission of Karnataka fourty sixth report pdf available at: https://karunadu.karnataka.gov.in/lawcommission/Reports/Report%20No.46.pdf
  • 35 Kumar RK. Technology and healthcare costs. Ann Pediatr Cardiol 2011; 4 (01) 84-86
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 36 Kapoor MC. Violence against the medical profession. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol 2017; 33 (02) 145-147
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 37 National Health Profile. 2019 14th edition: Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, Directorate General Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. pg 175 Scheme wise Actual Expenditure on NHM/NHM for various Annual Plans (in Rs. Crores)
  • 38 Indian Healthcare Industry Report (November, 2020) Available at: https://www.ibef.org/industry/healthcare-india.aspx
  • 39 Goldacre MJ, Evans J, Lambert TW. Media criticism of doctors: review of UK junior doctors’ concerns raised in surveys. BMJ 2003; 326 (73/90) 629-630
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 40 Gopichandran V, Subramaniam S, Kalsingh MJ. COVID-19 pandemic: a litmus test of trust in the health system. Asian Bioeth Rev 2020; 1-9
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 41 Dhankar M. Complementary and alternative medicine: a cross-sectional observational study in pediatric inpatients. J Evid Based Integr Med 2018; 23: X18765119
    CrossrefGoogle Scholar
  • 42 For hire protestors to cut hospital bill. Available at: https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/for-hire-protesters-to-cut-hospital-bill/cid/1334873. Accessed December 31, 2019
  • 43 MHA opposition puts bill to check violence against doctors on backburner. Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/ politics-and-nation/mha-opposition-puts-bill-to-check-violence-against-doctors-on backburner/articleshow/72677503. cms?from=mdr. Accessed on March 2, 2021
  • 44 National Health Profile. 2019 14th edition: Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, Directorate General Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. pg 175 Scheme wise Actual Expenditure on NHM/NHM for various Annual Plans (in Rs. Crores)
  • 45 Parikh PM, Bhosale B, Lokeshwar N, Kamath M, Kumar A, Gulia A. et al. Mediclaim insurance challenges and solutions - Doctors supporting patients: A Medic LAWgic initiative. Indian J Med Sci 2019; 71 (01) 22-7
    CrossrefGoogle Scholar