Victim in moderate condition after being stabbed with screwdriver; staff to withold treatment of non-emergency patients on Thursday.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHdoctor 88(photo credit: )
Doctors at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot will not treat non-emergency patients on Thursday, 24 hours after an elderly patient with a psychiatric history stabbed a hospital physician in the back and shoulder with a screwdriver. The doctor was listed in moderate condition in the hospital, while the attacker managed to escape. The police were looking for him.
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, the attacker arrived for a checkup in the urology department and the doctor checked his records. Suddenly, the man suddenly pulled out the screwdriver and lunged at the urologist.
Prof. Zion Hagai, chairman of the hospital's doctor's union, said that "all red lines had been crossed" a long time ago regarding violence against medical staffers, "and we are paying the price. Israeli society must take immediate action against violent patients [and visitors] who harm those who serve them."
Israel Medial Association chairman Dr. Yoram Blachar strongly denounced the attack, saying society has failed to protect those who treat patients. He expressed his regret that the Knesset voted down a bill to establish minimum sentences for those who attack medical staff. He also called on MKs to push through a bill that would allow medical institutions to refuse to treat those who have carried out violent acts in those institutions. The IMA is now considering going to court over the issue.
