A doctor reportedly walked out of an operating theatre midway through a bout of surgery after becoming angry at not being served tea.
The medical worker was said to have been carrying out scheduled family planning procedures on eight women at a local health centre in Nagpur, central India.
Having performed the surgery on four of the women and administered anaesthesia to the other patients, he reportedly asked hospital staff to make him a cup of tea.
But after the workers failed to provide him with the hot beverage as requested, he promptly left the operating theatre without carrying out the remaining procedures, according to NDTV.
The chief of Nagpur’s district council, Soumya Sharma, told NDTV that she understood the doctor “left the operation due to not receiving tea” – and suggested he should face criminal charges.
‘The utmost seriousness’
“This incident is a matter of the utmost seriousness,” she said.
“If doctors are willing to abandon such critical procedures over a mere cup of tea, they should be held accountable under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.”
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Another doctor was reportedly sent to perform surgeries on the rest of the anaesthetised women after the authorities were informed.
The district administration is said to have ordered an investigation into the incident.