US aid worker assaults doctor, ransacks Shillong hospital's COVID-19 facility

Shillong: A US aid worker allegedly attacked a doctor of a government hospital injuring him, spat on its employees and ransacked the COVID-19 facility after he was taken there with complaints of chest pain and breathlessness on his return from Assam, officials said on Monday.

They said that Theodore Moallem, who is associated with a Shillong-based NGO, became agitated and non-cooperative after he was administered some injections in the Civil Hospital here. Moallem went to Guwahati on May 26 and returned on June 6.

He was suffering from chest pain and breathlessness since his return and went to the hospital on Saturday night. "The patient was advised injections but he became violent and started breaking the hospital's doors and chairs and attacked the nursing staff and doctor on duty," according to a report from the hospital authorities to the Director of Health Services, Dr Aman War.

The report said that in the attack, Dr Isaac Syiem, a senior general surgeon of the government hospital, suffered a fracture in one of his fingers and he will not be able to perform operations now. Moallem also allegedly used abusive language besides coughing and spitting on the employees on duty, it added.

Health Minister AL Hek said the health department is yet to decide on the action to be taken against the US national who shifted to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS). The US national was restrained and sedated before he was taken to the NEIGRIHMS.

In a Facebook post, Moallem claimed, "They didn't technically confirm the diagnosis, they just started berating and giggling at me as for hours I begged for aspirin. They injected me at least twice, possibly thrice. Never did they confirm the syringe contents nor did they respond to any of my other questions (except to repeat terms like 'hospital' and 'injection'). All I got were these sore arms, sore legs and sore neck."