Stressed doc offers to quit Covid work

Nagpur: Yavatmal’s renowned critical care specialist, Dr Mahesh Shah, whose entire hospital was converted into a Covid-19 hospital to deal with the surge of patients in the district, has expressed his unwillingness to continue Covid-19 work.
In a letter to Yavatmal’s district collector M Devender Singh, the doctor listed reasons behind his decision, foremost of which is a lot of pressure from politicians for admission of patients. “The tremendous pressure is disturbing me in my daily practice. Kindly relieve me from this work. Till your order, I will see only my admitted patients,” reads Dr Shah’s letter to the district collector. This is the first case in Maharashtra where a private doctor, whose hospital has been designated as a Covid-19 hospital, has written with clarity about problems like pressure for admission, from reporters and the media at large and false social media campaign with the intention to blackmail.
“Some people are taking advantage of the difficult situation and running social media campaigns on WhatsApp and Twitter against me which is denting my image. This is not good for me and my hospital,” wrote Dr Shah.
In fact, since the last three days, some individuals are making posts against Dr Shah viral on social media platforms. They have accused him of charging huge sums for treatment and also for asking one Covid-19 negative patient to get admitted in the isolation ward. However, those running negative media campaigns have not lodged any police complaint against Dr Shah nor have they approached the IMA or the medical council.
“This was a failed attempt to blackmail me,” said Dr Shah, who has already started gaining support from the medical fraternity.
“This is a sorry state of affairs. Kudos to Dr Mahesh Shah for taking this bold public step. May be this will wake up the authorities and the public,” said Dr Ravi Wankhedkar, former national president of IMA. Many doctors from the city have termed the concern raised by Dr Shah as true and genuine.
WHY QUIT
* Number of beds less, still pressure for admissions by influential people
* Patients in last stage referred by other physicians
* Misunderstanding regarding Antigen, RT-PCR tests creating confusion
* Social media campaign intended to defame and tarnish image
* Pressure from politicians for admission of their patients
* Blackmailing by local reporters and media