A video showing a man being thrashed by nursing staff wearing PPE and security personnel went viral on social media platforms recently.
As the heartwrenching incident came to light, the Rajkot Civil Hospital authorities in its defense said the patient who was infected with the Covid-19 virus was a psychologically disturbed man.
"The patient was being restrained, and not thrashed, to avoid inflicting injuries to himself or others in the medical facility," the hospital authorities said.
In the video, the nursing staff can be seen struggling to overpower the patient lying on the floor. It is not yet known who shot the video.
One person in the PPE kit can be seen sitting on the patient while the other person slapped the patient and asked him to stay calm. In fact, a security man also used force to control the patient.
"The staff was only trying to make sure the patient does not hurt himself or others. Though the nursing staff had asked him to behave, he did not listen to them. He even tried to remove his clothes. Thus, the staff tried hard to restrain him and take him back to his bed," hospital superintendent Dr Pankaj Buch told a news agency.
The patient in the video identified as 38-year-old Prabhashankar Paatil passed away on September 12, leading his family members to allege that he died due to the beating and not due to coronavirus infection.
Video sparks criticism online
However, the video has also sparked criticism online. A Twitterati said, "Koi bahagne ki kosisi karega to doctor kya karega (If someone tries to run, what will the doctor do)," while another believed, "There is something called ICU psychosis or delirium. When a patient develops this, he becomes detached from reality, is not amenable to reasoning. He becomes violent, removes intravenous lines, hence, we can't give injections. He needs2b physically restrained. But not like this."
