Doctors withdraw No Practice Day

The medical fraternity in Maharashtra on Monday decided to withdraw Tuesday's No Practice Day following talks with Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

The medical fraternity in Maharashtra on Monday decided to withdraw Tuesday's No Practice Day following talks with Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

Patients were left in the lurch after doctors at Kem Hospital went on strike after being assaulted by a family of deceased patient

"The Chief Minister has assured a delegation of over 35 associations that the state government would take adequate steps to protect doctors against assault," Dr T P Lahane, head of the Department of Ophthalmology at the state government's J J Hospital said.

"Chavan told us that he would take the desired steps in 10 days," Lahane said.

The medicos had threatened to observe No Practice Day on Tuesday demanding that the state government come out with a legislation to protect doctors against assault on them by patients or their kin.

Tuesday was to be the first time that all government, municipal and private hospitals were to join the protest and abstain from out-patient consultation.

However, the medicos had announced that emergency departments and casualty would function normally without causing inconvenience to the public.

The doctors of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) were also to wear black badges as a symbol of support to the medicos.