My tone, words could have been more measured: Goa minister Vishwajit Rane, under fire for lashing out at senior doctor
Under fire for reprimanding the Chief Medical Officer of Goa Medical College and Hospital and ordering his immediate suspension, Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane Saturday said his “tone and words could have been more measured”.
“I’m not above reflection or criticism. I take full responsibility for how I communicated and I assure you, such an approach will not be repeated,” he said in a post on X after his behaviour sparked outrage.
Rane claimed he had acted “in defence of a helpless, elderly woman”. “I received a message from a concerned family member about how a senior citizen, already in pain and medically advised to receive daily injections, was refused the injection at GMC casualty on a public holiday. What made the matter worse was that the casualty had minimal patient load at the time, and yet, a simple act of compassion and care was withheld. I found this deeply upsetting,” he said.
“What I will not apologise for is standing up for a patient who was denied care. Doctors hold a noble position in society and most of them at GMC serve with great dedication. But when arrogance seeps into duty, when compassion is replaced with indifference, it is my responsibility to take action. Because if we let such behaviour pass unaddressed, we send a message that it is acceptable to deny a senior citizen or any other person medical help. That cannot happen in a government hospital that is meant to serve the public,” he said.
In the video, Rane could be seen storming into a hospital ward and enquiring from a staffer about the whereabouts of the CMO. Rane then pulled up the senior doctor, saying, “You learn to control your tongue. You are a doctor. Don’t force me to act. Put your hands out (of the pocket) when you are standing in front of me… Remove the mask when I am speaking to you.”
In a statement, the Goa state branch of the Indian Medical Association said it “strongly condemns this unruly act by the Health Minister on our fellow colleague”.
In his post later, Rane shared the contents of a message that he purportedly received, which stated that a person’s mother-in-law had been undergoing treatment at the orthopaedic OPD for a severe sciatic leg problem and was advised to take an injection at the casualty by a staffer.
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The complaint said that when his mother-in-law went to the casualty on Saturday morning, the CMO allegedly told them that the “casualty is not for giving injection and it is only for emergency”.
