Doctor Found Dead Inside ICU At Guwahati Hospital, Probe Launched

A doctor at a private super-speciality hospital in Guwahati was found dead inside an ICU chamber early on Wednesday morning, with police launching a probe into the matter, officials said. He was identified as Dr Prayash Singhal, who had been working at the hospital for around six years.

He was posted in the Neurology ICU. According to hospital authorities, Dr Singhal arrived at the hospital at around 10 pm on Tuesday. He later complained of abdominal pain and vomiting and sought medication from the nursing staff.

He was given medicines and an injection for the symptoms. He subsequently went to the doctors' room and was attended to. At around 4 am, hospital staff found him unresponsive inside the ICU chamber. Hospital founder and Managing Director Dr Hitesh Baruah said the police were informed soon after the doctor was found dead.

"Dr Prayash Singhal had been working with us for the last six years. He was an emergency medicine doctor and was also working in the ICU," Baruah said. He said Dr Singhal had complained of abdominal pain and vomiting during the night.

"He asked for medicines and was given medication and an injection. Later, he went to the doctors' room," he added. Dr Baruah said staff found the doctor unresponsive during the early hours of Wednesday. "When we checked on him in the morning, we found that he had already died.

There were no signs of life," he said. Police reached the hospital after being informed about the incident. The body was sent to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination. The cause of death will be known after the post-mortem and forensic examination.

Dr Baruah said it would be premature to draw any conclusion about the circumstances surrounding the death. "At this stage, we cannot say whether it was a suicide or something else. It would be hypothetical to say so. We will have to wait for the post-mortem, forensic examination and investigation," he said.

He added that personal issues could also be examined as part of the inquiry, but stressed that no conclusion had been reached.