With the striking Junior Doctors intensifying their strike, emergency medical services are crippled and at least 8 people have died since Friday night. Hospital officials said six patients have died in the emergency ward of Gandhi Hospital, Secunderabad and one each in Visakhapatnam and Kurnool. The relatives of the deceased alleged that lack of medical aid resulted in the death of their kins.

About 3,000 junior doctors in 10 teaching hospitals have been boycotting the emergency services since Friday evening to pressurise the government to accept their demands for a 40 per cent hike in stipend and reduction in the compulsory service in rural areas from three years to one year. They have been on strike for nearly a month to press for their demands but the government wants the medicos to call off their strike before any talks can be held. Since 90 per cent of the emergency services in the hospitals are rendered by the junior medicos, the strike has crippled the services.

Osmania and Gandhi Hospitals in Hyderabad are the worst hit as there is hardly any doctor available to attend to the patients. Chaotic scenes were also seen at casualty wards and intensive care units of various departments at the hospitals in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Kakinada, Tirupati, Anantapur, Kurnool and Warangal.