Severed leg used as pillow, doctors suspended in UP

NEW DELHI: Authorities have suspended two doctors and launched an investigation after a patient’s severed leg was used as a pillow to prop up his head, a hospital official said on Sunday.

Administrators at the government-run hospital in Uttar Pradesh state vowed “strict action” after images emerged showing the patient on a stretcher with the amputated limb being used as a headrest. “We have set up a fourmember committee to find out who put the severed leg under the patient’s head,” said Sadhna Kaushik, principal of the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College and Hospital in Jhansi, said. “Strict action will be taken if our staff is found at fault.”

Two doctors have been suspended pending investigation, she said.

The man, identified as 28-yearold Ghanshyam, was seriously injured in a bus accident.

His relatives told the local NDTV news network that hospital staff ignored their requests that Ghanshyam, who goes by one name, be given a pillow.

“When we reached the hospital, we saw his leg being used as a headrest,” Janaki Prasad, a relative, told NDTV. “I repeatedly asked the doctors to intervene but they refused,” Prasad added, saying Ghanshyam’s relatives eventually bought a pillow from a local market.

Kaushik said the patient was given “immediate” medical attention and one of his relatives placed the leg under his head.

“The doctor looked for something to raise his head. The patient’s attendant used the leg,” she told PTI.

State-run hospitals are often illequipped, severely underfunded and stretched to breaking point.

Last year, dozens of children died in a single week at a government hospital in Uttar Pradesh that suffered oxygen shortages.