Kolkata: The condition of medic Aniket Mahator, a junior doctor, who was on a hunger strike has deteriorated.
Saikat Nyoggi, Professor of the Anesthesia Department at RG Kar Hospital, said, "Ketone bodies were found in Aniket's urine. Normally this is worrying because ketone bodies are found only when glucose and glycogen are depleted in the body. This means that his liver is not functioning properly. If these ketone bodies accumulate in the body, the patient can go into a coma at any time. Ketone bodies are basically an acid. There should not be a single drop of these ketone bodies in the body."
According to the medical report on Thursday morning, over three ketone bodies were found in Aniket's urine. These ketone bodies accumulate in the body when the blood sugar levels are abnormally high, especially when there is no food intake.
But not only Aniket Mahato, the physical condition of the six other junior doctors on hunger strike is also deteriorating.
Ashim Maiti, a former professor doctor at SSKM Hospital said, "The condition of Snigdha and Sayantani is also slowly deteriorating. Their blood pressure is now equal to that of a child. Also, the level of CBG i.e. Capillary Blood Glucose in the body is decreasing. When the CBG falls below 60, the condition of the body becomes bad. It directly affects the kidneys, and can lead to multi-organ failure."
The junior doctors have been on hunger strike in Dharmatala (Esplanade) since 8:30 pm last Saturday after the West Bengal government apparently did not take positive action on their 10-point demand charter. In support of them, senior doctors of several medical colleges of the state have resigned en masse and put pressure on the West Bengal government.
Meeting with the Chief Secretary
Earlier on Wednesday night, after a three-hour meeting with Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, the junior doctors came out of the Swasthya Bhavan and said the meeting would be held after the Puja in the third week of October. By 6:35 pm on Wednesday, the e-mail from the Chief Secretary to the junior doctors was sent. A total of 29 representatives of junior doctors attended the meeting.
Junior doctor Debashis Halder said, "Their lack of goodwill was clearly understood. What the Chief Secretary said in front of the reporters the previous day, he said the same thing in front of us. We know that our demands are time-consuming. But, we asked for a directive or timeline. Where the Chief Secretary said, let the Durga Puja get over, then that will be discussed."
On Thursday, the junior doctors once again e-mailed the Chief Secretary to take stock of things.
"We are disappointed after the meeting yesterday. We have mailed you twice before. We thought you would tell us something new at yesterday's meeting. We have a right to know about the work process. It's been 23 days now and we don't know anything. We request that we be informed. Let us also know what security measures have been taken in the hospital," read the letter.
Justice for RG Kar
Before the junior doctors could meet the chief secretary, 'Justice for RG Kar' slogans were raised in one of the pandals where several protestors distributed leaflets and slogans in front of the Tridhara Sammilani Puja Mandap. The protesters were detained by the police.
Several people were taken to Lalbazar in a Kolkata police van present in front of the Puja Mandap. However, Lalbazar has informed that a total of nine people have been detained.
A senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, said, "We received a complaint from the concerned mandap authorities. They were then asked to leave peacefully but protested. They were taken to Lalbazar in a vehicle."
