Doctors are generally regarded more highly by society than the rest of us schlubs, and rightly so: they bring us into this world, sometimes guide us out of it, and all the while in between they do their best to keep us alive.

But of course doctors are just people too, and they’re prone to the same vices and character flaws that anyone might have. For example, one MD at a hospital in Aomori Prefecture let his short temper show recently when he punched a patient in the gut during a late night visit.

But was the doc just a hothead? Or was this particular patient just so obnoxious that the assault was warranted?

Although the details have only recently come to light, the incident is reported to have occurred one night in early August this year. At about midnight one evening, a male patient entered Mutsu City General Hospital in Aomori complaining of a pain in his elbow. He was promptly examined by a doctor and sent home, only to return at 1:30am—this time arriving by ambulance—telling the hospital staff he had another pain, this time in his abdomen.

Again the man was checked over and sent on his way, but only two and a half hours later, another ambulance drove up to the hospital with the same man sitting in the back.

Clearly the sight of this frequent visitor was too much for one doctor to bear, however; upon noticing the patient sitting in yet another cubicle, the doctor stepped in and suddenly struck a blow to the man’s midsection. Luckily medical staff were on the scene in record time and quickly determined that there was no injury as a result of the blow.

In a subsequent investigation, it was found that this patient had been taken to this hospital by ambulance a total of 18 times since the beginning of 2015. In many cases he was noticeably intoxicated and belligerent with staff. Little wonder the doctor was sick of the sight of him.

Readers of the news were supportive of the avenging doctor:

“That’s forgivable.”
“No problem! Innocent.”
“Good for him!”
“That doctor is innocent. They should have arrested the patient.”
“It was just a really strong massage.”
“It would have been better if they just went ahead and euthanized the patient.”

The hospital also sided with the doctor, mainly because after the patient sobered up, his assailant apologized and acknowledged the error of his ways. As punishment, they only gave the doctor a strict talking-to. The hospital also said that staff will be provided with additional guidance to ensure that “there should be no violence under any circumstances” from here on out.

Source: Goo News via Itai News (Japanese)
Top Image: Wikipedia (Edited by RocketNews24)