This despicable incident on Dec 22, 2025, where Dr. Raghav Narula started beating a patient while the patient was in bed at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, has received worldwide attention. A short video captured by the patient’s relative went viral in no time.

This abhorrent incident needs no condonation as far as the doctor’s conduct is concerned. A doctor’s job is to protect the interests of his or her patients, regardless of any circumstances. Dr. Raghav Narula had the option to distance himself from the argument or perceived abuse, and he could have called security or simply removed himself from the situation, but he chose to start thrashing the patient.

What was equally shameful was that after the incident, he started going on air on TV channels and began justifying his misconduct. The Resident Doctor Association (RDA), shockingly enough, came out in his support.

A doctor is the custodian of this noble profession.

In medicine, we go by the ethical principle of “first, do no harm”, that is primum non nocere.

Anyway, Dr. Raghav Narula has already been terminated from his services at IGMC as a senior resident. I will not be surprised if the National Medical Commission (NMC) or the state-level medical licensing board takes up this issue and, sooner or later, suspends the medical license of Dr. Raghav Narula, making him ineligible to practice medicine in the future.

But there is a deeper question.

Without showing even the remotest support for this incident involving the doctor, it seems that this young doctor has literally spoiled his career, and he will live with social stigma forever. The deeper question is: can he get a second chance?

In my opinion, the state medical board or the NMC should take up this case and refer the physician to an ethics committee, which could look into the circumstances leading to this situation and assess whether the doctor is ready to understand the gravity of his professional misconduct. Is he repentant enough to seek an unconditional apology from the patient? That may be the first step. Is Dr. Narula ready to salvage his career? If such a scenario unfolds, then he can be asked to undergo supervised training or re-training to sensitize or reorient him to the professional and ethical rigor that the medical profession requires.

After all, the nobility of the profession must win every time.