Doctor in critical condition after allegedly being punched at entrance to Box Hill hospital on Tuesday night

A surgeon is fighting for his life after he was allegedly assaulted at a Melbourne hospital for telling a man to stop smoking.

Heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann is in critical condition at the Alfred hospital after he was allegedly punched near the entrance to the Box Hill hospital on Tuesday night.

Joseph Esmaili, 22, did not apply for bail when he faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday accused of the attack.



His lawyer told the court Esmaili was suffering from a number of psychiatric illnesses for which he had been prescribed medication, as well as drug withdrawal symptoms.

“He’s currently withdrawing from a drug dependence,” the defence lawyer told the magistrate.



Esmaili, of Mill Park north of Melbourne, faced court in handcuffs after he was arrested on Wednesday and charged with intentionally causing injury to the surgeon. Prosecutor Ashleigh Harrold said the incident was captured by CCTV cameras.

Detective Senior Sergeant Ian Shepherd told the ABC Esmaili allegedly punched the victim in the head, knocking him unconscious, before fleeing the scene.



“The staff member appears to be leaving the hospital. As he’s leaving he becomes in a discussion with an unknown male, the exact nature of that conversation we’re unable to tell,” he said.

Shepherd said it was possible the two men had argued about smoking near the hospital but police had not been able to confirm that.

An Eastern Health spokeswoman said Pritzwald-Stegmann’s family had requested privacy after the “terrible incident”.