Resident doctors at the state-run JJ hospital have made a series of allegations, including medical negligence that led to five avoidable deaths in the last few months, against the head of the dermatology department. In all, 21 resident doctors from the department will be on leave from Monday until action is initiated against the department head, Dr Mahindra Kura. This is expected to result in the disruption of medical services.

The doctors claim that Dr Kura made decisions contrary to established evidence-driven practices in medical journals. “For instance, in the case of active and progressive systemic sclerosis, it is advised not to administer steroids of more than 15 mg per day. However, Dr Kura has been administering 1,000 mg of steroids per day for three consecutive days,” said a third-year junior resident doctor. “The consequence of this decision can trigger a scleroderma renal crisis which leads to eventual kidney failure in patients,” the doctor added.