‘Just as my humiliation went viral, so should this’: Doctor rejects minister Vishwajit Rane’s apology, demands he come to Goa hospital

“The minister should come to the Casualty Department and publicly apologise at the same place,” Dr Rudresh Kuttikar told The Indian Express.

Amid protests by doctors against the minister’s conduct at the medical college, Rane had on Monday morning tendered an apology. In a post on X, the minister pointed to the “heartfelt apology” he tendered during a broadcast with a regional channel on Sunday night for the “harsh words” he uttered during his visit to the hospital.

“In the heat of the moment, my emotions overtook my expression, and I deeply regret the manner in which I addressed the situation. It was never my intention to undermine or disrespect the dignity of any medical professional… While I may have erred in my communication, my intent was always to ensure that no patient is denied timely care and that our public health system remains responsive and compassionate,” Rane said.

Kuttikar told reporters at GMC on Monday afternoon that the minister must apologise to him at the site of their previous interaction “within 24 hours”.

“I have seen the video, but it is a studio apology… All the doctors demand that the apology should be where the incident happened… in front of the people. It could be recorded. (Just) as my humiliation went viral, the same thing (apology) should also be viral. I was humiliated completely that day… So, I want (that) everyone should know (about) the apology. Within 24 hours, he has to apologise,” the doctor said.

Explaining the incident that took place on Saturday, Kuttikar said someone came to the Casualty ward of the hospital and asked for a Vitamin B12 injection to be administered to a relative. “Vitamin B12 injection is not an emergency injection. So, we said that you have to go to the OPD or a nearby primary health centre. In the casualty ward of a tertiary care hospital, only serious and critical patients are to be handled, so it is the protocol. But nowadays, even minor cases end up coming to the Emergency department,” he said.

He said that if the demand for the in-person apology is not accepted, there will be a strike.

On Monday morning, protests broke out at the hospital as doctors raised slogans demanding “justice” and a public apology from the minister. The protesting doctors said they would decide on any escalatory steps, including a strike or shutdown of healthcare services, on Tuesday.

The Goa Association of Resident Doctors (GARD), Goa Medical College and Hospital, on Sunday had issued an ultimatum to the government, threatening to escalate protests if their demands were not met in 48 hours.

The GARD submitted a memorandum of demands to the Dean of GMC on Monday, which included immediate revocation of the CMO’s suspension, a fair inquiry and a public apology from the Health Minister. The association demanded an assurance that no healthcare professional would be subjected to such an arbitrary ordeal again and a ban on any form of videography, including by the media, at patient care areas. It also called for an “end of VIP culture” in hospitals, especially in the Casualty Department, and for the implementation of a policy where treatment in all areas must be dictated by principles of triage and clinical urgency and “not by social or political status or affiliation of the patient”. It demanded that SOPs be framed for VIP treatment and the registration of an FIR against the person who recorded the video at the Casualty Department on Saturday.

GARD president Aayush Sharma said, “All the doctors have been posted in their elected duties. No duties have been stopped, and all the patients are being attended to. No form of service has been stopped at GMC.”

On the demand for an end to “VIP culture”, Sharma said, “For instance, on June 7 night and early June 8 morning, four medical residents of the Medicine Department were verbally assaulted, threatened and videographed against their will. They were threatened by relatives and attendants that…they will get them fired… Everybody wants to call in a favour, or wants their patient to be treated first. There is no respect for hospital protocol. This is what we mean by VIP culture, which is not only prevalent here, but all over India.”

In his post on X, Rane had said he was concerned about the alleged disruption in services at GMC, “which is now impacting thousands of innocent patients”, and he appealed to the doctors “to return to duty with the same passion and commitment that defines their profession”.