Nepal doctors strike in mob attack protest

Doctors throughout Nepal went on strike today to protest attacks by mobs on at least two hospitals and their staff earlier this week in disputes over patients who died, the Nepal Medical Association said.

Doctors at private and government hospitals in cities and towns across the country halted work for one day, but emergency services remained open, according to Dr Sudha Adhikari, a member of the association.

At Bir Hospital, the main hospital in Kathmandu, patients were turned away without treatment because of the strike. Hospital staff told them to return tomorrow.

Yesterday, a mob attacked the Everest Nursing Home in Kathmandu after a patient suffering from asthma died and his son was beaten by hospital guards when he tried to attack the doctor, according to hospital staff.

The hospital admitted it was at fault in the patient’s death because it did not have bottled oxygen.

At a regional hospital in Butwal, about 200kms southwest of Kathmandu, an accident victim died on Tuesday because of alleged doctor negligence, triggering an angry protest in which mobs stoned the hospital and a dozen clinics in the town. They also vandalised drug stores and abused doctors.

“We are demanding an immediate investigation of the attacks on the hospital and medical staff and punishment for those involved in the attack,” the medical association said.

Doctors are often accused of negligence in Nepal, and there is little recourse for deaths due to improper or inadequate treatment.