UP: Two doctors, two nurses suspended after video shows accident victim using severed leg as pillow

Two doctors and two nurses at the emergency ward of a government-run hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi were suspended on Saturday after a video showing a road accident victim using his severed leg as a pillow went viral on social media, The Times of India reported.

The Uttar Pradesh government has set up a four-member committee to look into the case, Dr Sadhna Kaushik, the principal of Maharani Laxmi Bai Jhansi Medical College, told the Hindustan Times. “Dr Rajeev Sinha, the head of department of surgery, is heading the committee,” Kaushik said. “It will give a report in 48 hours, and necessary action will be taken.”

The patient, identified as 28-year-old Ghanshyam, is the cleaner of a school bus. He was brought to the hospital after the bus met with an accident on the way to school. At least a dozen children were also injured.

Reports said Ghanshyam lost his leg in the accident and was taken to the Jhansi medical college after preliminary treatment at a local centre. However, it is not yet clear who decided to use it to rest Ghanshyam’s head.

Some reports said Ghanshyam’s brother, mother and a few relatives came with him to the hospital and brought the severed leg with them. His mother alleged that an attending doctor put the leg under his head as a pillow was not available. Kaushik, however, maintained that hospital staff were not responsible, and that someone was trying to cause trouble. She claimed that a woman who was with Ghanshyam was holding on to the limb and refused to give it to doctors or other medical staff.

Other reports said the doctors amputated his leg at the hospital to prevent an infection from spreading, and that the hospital was looking at CCTV footage to find out who propped up the patient using the leg as a pillow.

The patient’s family has also claimed that they were forced to transfer Ghanshyam to a private hospital as “there was no one to attend him”, The Times of India reported. Chief Medical Superintendent Harish Chandra Arya said action will be taken against those found guilty after an inquiry.