A patient died at the Dhenkanal district hospital on Sunday as doctors wasted time quarrelling over who would attend to the victim.
Trilokya Sahu (37) of Gunduraposi village under the Gondia police limit was rushed to the Community Health Centre, Gondia, when he complained of acute chest pain.
Doctors immediately referred him to the Dhenkanal hospital.
Relatives took him to the district hospital Outdoor Patient Department where they were told to take him to the medicine ward.
Trilokya was taken to medicine ward where the doctor refused to attend to him saying it was not his case.
The relatives again took him to the OPD. When the OPD doctor asked why the patient was not being attended to, it led to a spat between the two doctors. The two doctors were identified as Pragyan Das and Manoj Das.
Meanwhile, the victim, who was left unattended, died.
“My brother died as no doctor attended to him. It is a criminal act as the two doctors chose to fight instead of taking care of the patient,” said Rabi Narayan Sahu, brother of the victim.
Dhenkanal Chief District Medical Officer Basudev Behera said it was an unfortunate incident and the matter would be investigated.
Angry villagers staged a road block near Gondia demanding compensation of ₹10 lakh for the family of the deceased..