Tension will understandably simmer among lawyers and doctors alike as the police force has registered cases, under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), against 250 lawyers responsible for the carnage at Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) on Wednesday. The incident provides a soul-searching occasion to lawyers and doctors about their professional conduct. When a lawyer betrays a client with bad arguments in court, he harms one individual. But when the lawyer community as a whole takes the law into its hands, and attacks a sensitive place like a cardiology hospital to settle an old score with an individual doctor, it shows collective bankruptcy. Not long ago, this paper took up the subject, ‘Violence in hospitals’ (December 9), highlighting the rising incidents of aggression against doctors and paramedics, but it was never thought that the subject would be revisited within four days. The attack on PIC by the mob wearing black coats, which resulted in deaths of three patients and injuries to several others, will forever be remembered a barbaric act. Provoked by, according to the protesting lawyers themselves, a ‘mocking video’ made by doctors, they simply broke into the hospital premises, beat doctors, nurses, paramedics, patients and their attendants, besides clashing with police and journalists. Video footage of the mob beating Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, who was dispatched by the chief minister for damage control, is still doing the rounds on social media. The black coats burnt a police van and forced shopkeepers to shut and run. The violence claimed the lives of at least three patients, according to Provincial Health Minister Yasmeen Rashid. Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar have taken note of the incident and ordered an inquiry. Doctors also share the blame for the hike in violence in hospitals. With the inception of Young Doctors Association activism in recent years, hospitals often become scenes of strikes, fistfights, and closure of wards. Both the public and healthcare providers need to be educated on hospital ethics and laws. *