A resident doctor at Max hospital in Delhi has died by suicide due to severe stress caused in the the deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the former chief of a top medical body tweeted.
“He was a very brilliant doctor from Gorakhpur (in Uttar Pradesh) and helped to save hundreds of lives during the pandemic,”
former Indian Medical Association (IMA) chief Dr Ravi Wankhedkar tweeted.
Dr Vivek Rai had been looking after Covid patients at the private hospital for the last one month, the ex-IMA chief said. He had been dealing with seven to eight critical patients every day, Dr Wankhedkar said, adding the young doctor developed depression after more and more people kept dying.
“Due to this frustrating situation he was into, he took such a difficult decision of ending his own life than living with the suffering and emotions of the people who died on his watch,”
Dr Wankhedkar said, adding Dr Rai is survived by his wife, who is two-month pregnant.
“This brings into focus the tremendous emotional strain while managing Covid crisis. This death of a young doctor is nothing short of murder by the ‘system’ which has created frustrations with shortage of basic healthcare facilities. Bad science, bad politics and bad governance,”
the former IMA president tweeted.
The police at south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar said the doctor has left a suicide note behind. The body was taken to AIIMS for a post-mortem, the Delhi police said, that they are undergoing investigation.
