'He Was Fit, Loved His Job': Friends on Young Chennai Doctor Who Died After Duty

"If you don't safeguard your doctors, how will the doctors safeguard the people?" ask Dr Maruthupandian's peers.

"Dr Maruthupandian was just 32 years old. He was just married three months ago. His life was just starting. But before it could take off, it has ended. And they don't know the reason why. How can we just accept this?"

Dr Keerthy Varman M, General Secretary ,Tamilnadu Resident Doctors Association (TNRDA)

On Sunday, 10 December, Dr Maruthupandian, a super-speciality postgraduate from Madras Medical College (MMC), was found dead at his house after allegedly returning from a long shift at work. According to colleagues, he had no serious health issues that they knew of.

'A Man Who Enjoyed Surgery'

Dr Maruthupandian had completed his MS (Master of Surgery) in general surgery at the prestigious MMC and had joined the super speciality PG (postgraduate) surgical gastroenterology in the same college just ten days ago.

"He was a very good surgeon, a man who enjoyed surgery. He wanted this specialisation. He joined it with a lot of love and passion," Dr Vinayak Rengan, another surgeon who did his MS from MMC, told FIT.

People who knew Dr Maruthupandian also said that he was a very bright student.

Speaking to FIT, Dr Keerthy Varman M, General Secretary, Tamilnadu Resident Doctors Association (TNRDA), who also knew Dr Maruthupandian personally, said, "He came from a small village in Ariyalur district. He is from a humble background. In his village, he was the first one to become a doctor, let alone the first one to study a speciality."

"He was a great motivation for people in his village, he added.

Dr Varman met Dr Maruthupandian when the latter was serving as a council member in MMC during his MS, and says that a standout quality of his was that he was always looking out for his fellow doctors—his peers and his juniors.

"He actively participated in solving the problems of PG students, and helped organise strikes too. Last year when there was a strike for stipend hike in Tamil Nadu, he helped mobilise student groups."

Dr Keerthy Varman M

Both Dr Verman and Dr Rengan remember him as being an avid sportperson.

"He was fit and athletic. I myself learnt how to be fit from him," says Dr Verman, adding, "This is why we were so shocked when we found out he died."

‘24 to 36-Hour Shifts Are Common’: Life of a PG Doctor

Speaking of Dr Maruthupandian's death, Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Tuesday, 12 December, said that the tragedy cannot be attributed to 'workload'. The MMC, too, in a press note, said that contrary to media reports, Dr Maruthupandian had not been working a 36-hour shift before his death.

"That is what the administration is saying. But then what is the reason for a healthy 32-year-old man to die suddenly?" asks Dr Verman.

"We can't say if it's directly linked, but he died after standing in for a long liver transplant. Those surgeries are 12-hour surgeries."

Dr Vinayak Rengan

"The PG life for a doctor is a very stressful environment," says Dr Varman M. "The culture itself is like that. If you're a PG, you are expected to not question and do the work, especially if you're a first-year PG."

Dr Rengan adds, "Duties are tough in any teaching hospital. 24 to 36-hour shifts are pretty common."

Moreover, he says, "Doctors are overall struggling with a lot of stress. Workload, delayed social parameters, low pay, coupled with unhealthy lifestyle practices like late hours, lack of sleep and poor eating habits."

"In India doctors, particularly medical students work over 60 hours a week. This is justified by saying that its a nobel profession. Yes, its a nobel profession, but that doesn't mean we can work like machines."

Dr Keerthy Varman M, General Secretary ,Tamilnadu Resident Doctors Association (TNRDA)

'Need Support Systems for Young Docs'

Tragically, Dr Maruthupandian's death is not a one-off freak incident. Just a day later, on Monday, 11 December, another doctor, Dr Solaisamy from ESI Hospital in Ayanavaram, Chennai, was found dead after allegedly returning from a gruelling work shift.

On the same day, a 26-year-old MBBS final year student at AIIMS Gorakhpur, too, reportedly suffered a heart attack.

In January this year, a final-year senior resident doctor working in the paediatric department of Delhi's Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, also died of a cardiac arrest while on duty.

"Generally, all over the world, the life expectancy of doctors is gradually decreasing. Every year, since 2020 we've been losing 6 to 10 postgraduate doctors in the country." says Dr Verman.

Dr Verman says to tackle this, the Tamil Nadu Medical Students Association and the Tamil Nadu Resident Doctors Association had requested the health secretary in 2021 to make a PG students welfare board in Tamil Nadu to monitor work hours, work conditions, and the mental and physical health of young doctors.

"We have brought it up several times in several meetings since then, but we haven't got any response," he adds.

"This should be there, not only in Tamil Nadu, but in all states. If you don't safeguard your doctors, how will the doctors safeguard the people?"

Dr Keerthy Varman M

Meanwhile, the Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE) is demanding that the 24-hour duty be scrapped.

Stress Can Manifest in Sneaky Ways

"A person may have some health issues or other problems, but the work stress adds to that and plays an additional role in these kinds of untimely deaths," says Dr Varman.

Speaking to FIT for a story last year, Dr Vishal Rastogi, Additional Director, Cardiac Sciences, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, talked about how stress can indeed increase one's risk of having heart attacks, among other underlying causes, particularly in young people.

"The looks of a person can be very deceptive. We have lots of patients who are very lean and thin and lead a very active lifestyle. But if they have any of the risk factors – family history, diabetes, high blood pressure, or are smokers – they are still at risk of having a heart attack," he explained.