Colva gym instructor dies, riot in Hospicio

Doctors claim innocence; well-wishers break window panes, enter the medical superintendent’s office and block road in front of Hospicio
Colva gym instructor dies, riot in Hospicio
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MARGAO: A minor riot broke out at Hospicio Hospital, Margao after a 23-year-old gym instructor from Colva died there under mysterious circumstances on Wednesday. While the post-mortem report is awaited, doctors claimed innocence.
According to relatives and friends, the deceased Akbar Gazi had gone to the hospital at 6 am after complaining of chest pain, which the doctors allegedly mistook to be a gastric problem. Gazi was given a bed for a while and then made to sleep on the floor. Fed up with the “negligent attitude of the doctors”, his family went to sign the discharge papers. Ten minutes later, Gazi had a fit, followed by a major heart attack. He died at around 7.30 am.
Well-wishers who had come to see Gazi created a huge ruckus; they broke window panes, entered the medical superintendent’s office, and blocked the road in front of Hospicio several times, due to which traffic was severely affected. They also demanded that a case of negligence be filed against the doctors and staff,
Police, under the deputy collector’s supervision, tried to pacify the unruly crowd and get them to vacate the road. Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado also visited the hospital to take stock of the situation. He assured the protestors that he would get Health Minister Francis D’Souza to solve the problem soon.
The protestors were seen criticizing the chief minister and health minister for forgetting South Goa and the problems plaguing Hospicio. One Muzaffar Shaikh stated, “This is not the first case in Hospicio. The hospital, which is meant to cure the ailing, needs attention itself. I wonder whether all the facilities are for North Goans and development will take place in the North only. Are we outsiders that they have forgotten us? Are we not humans who deserve better care from the government?”
Meanwhile, in an interaction with Furtado, the doctors said, “We have not done anything wrong in this case. We attended to the patient on time and gave him the attention he needed for the symptoms he complained of. The same can be seen in the patient register.”
They informed that the patient and his friends opted not to get treatment in Hospicio and while getting to ready to leave the hospital, Gazi collapsed and died. They said, “We asked him to take ECG, but he opted out of that too.”
The case papers corroborate the doctors’ claims. A forcible discharge against doctors’ advice was taken at 7.15 am and Gazi collapsed ten minute later. Doctors and nurses rushed to his aid, but he breathed his last after five minutes.
The agitating mob has resolved to write to the South Goa collector. They also demanded that a post mortem be carried out with a panel of doctors from Goa Medical College and a thorough inquiry be done in the case. Gazi’s body has been shifted to GMC for the post mortem. Meanwhile, police registered an offence against unknown persons for creating a ruckus at the hospital.
Herald Goa
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