JJ Hospital dermatology head transferred, doctors withdraw strike

MUMBAI: Ten days into the protest by dermatology resident doctors at JJ Hospital against their department head, Dr Mahendra Kura, the government decided to transfer him to Aurangabad on Thursday.

According to an order from the medical education department, Dr Kura will join as the head of dermatology at the Government Medical College in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

In response to this development, the JJ chapter of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), which initiated an indefinite strike on Thursday, declared to end it and announced that the doctors would promptly return to work.

The dermatology residents had alleged that they endured mental torture, harassment, and threats under Dr Kura, and also that the medical decision at times was not in the best interest of patients.

A two-member committee under the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), formed to investigate the allegations, had submitted their findings last week.