Medical negligence alleged in toddler's death

The family of two-year-old boy Manikanta, who died on Thursday morning at Sapthagiri Hospital in the City, alleged inappropriate medical treatment and delay in attending to the toddler led to the death.

Manikanta, according to family members, was running a temperature and was admitted to the hospital on January 5. The child was unconscious when brought to the hospital, they said.

 Ramesh, uncle of deceased boy, said that nurses had told the family on Wednesday that the child was doing fine and is out of danger. “However, on Wednesday night, he was growing breathless. His heart rate began dropping,” he said adding that neither the nurses nor the duty doctors attended to Manikanta despite his mother alerting the hospital staff. The boy died at 8.30 am on Thursday.

 The child was a pre-term baby, which weighed just 600 grams at birth and kept falling sick on and off according to family members. “We first took him to a clinic near his house from where he was referred here. There was delay even at the time of admission,” he added.  The family claims that the delay in treatment was attributed to clearances from the ESIC to avail the treatment. They added that the patient’s attendant was asked to wait for three hours in the Hospital diagnostic unit just to collect the
Hospital authorities, however, said that the family was kept posted about the child’s condition.

Refuting the family’s claims, Dr Shiv Prakash, Pediatrics, HoD,  Sapthagiri Hospital said that the child died of a cardiac arrest.

“The child being pre-term has had a history of complications. It has undergone three surgeries during the neo-natal period. It also had tracheoesophageal fistula (a condition characterised by abnormal connection of the esophagus and the trachea). Is the child’s mother a medical professional to have understood that the heart rate is going down,” he questioned.  Dr Prakash added that doctors work on rotation basis round the clock and the child was attended to even on Wednesday night.