Death toll climbs as striking docs refuse to relent

The private hospital doctors' strike against the proposed KPME Bill claimed more lives in the state.

Thirty nine-year-old Vittal Bhajantri, a resident of Bhajantri Galli in Mudhol, Bagalkot district, died due to heart-related ailments on Wednesday. Bhajantri, a weaver by profession, could not get timely treatment as the OPD services at the private hospitals were shut due to the doctors' strike.

Two patients in Banahatti town of Jamakhandi taluk, Bagalkot district, died as they could not get timely medical attention owing to the doctors' strike on Wednesday. The deceased have been identified as Erappa Mantur (43) and Liyakat Maldar (62).

Mohammad Pyaru (57) of Purus Colony in Tumakuru, a heart patient, died en route to Jayadeva Hospital in Bengaluru.

Pyaru complained of chest pain on Tuesday night. When all efforts by his family members to get him treated at private hospitals in Tumakuru proved futile, they decided to shift Pyaru to Jayadeva in Bengaluru. But Pyaru died en route to the hospital.

A senior citizen from Athani in Belagavi district who could not get timely speciality treatment for injuries suffered after falling from bed, due to the strike by private medical practitioners, died at a hospital in Miraj, Maharashtra.

Retired teacher Srinivascharya Kundargi (82) had suffered head injuries after falling from bed on Tuesday. Family members went around Athani town trying to get special treatment for him, but none of the hospitals was open. He was taken to the civil hospital at Miraj in Maharashtra for treatment, but he succumbed to his injuries late in the night.        

Krishna, 57, a Nepal-based singer died of a heart attack as he could not get timely medical attention from private doctors. He died on the way to the taluk hospital at Ranebennur in Haveri district.