A nine-year-old boy from Thane who slipped into a coma on February 12 after undergoing a minor surgery for fractures in his hand died late on Saturday night.
The family, which alleges negligence on part of the hospital, readily agreed to donate his organs, giving a new lease of life to five people.
While one of his kidneys and his liver were being transplanted to two patients at the time of going to press, his eyes and the other kidney will soon be transplanted to three others.
The Thane police, meanwhile, have registered a medico legal case. The Vartak Nagar police, who recorded the statements of the boy's parents and hospital officials, will now transfer the case to Kasarwadavli police, under whose jurisdiction the hospital falls.
While Hiranandani Hospital, where the victim Naren Prakash was operated on, maintained there was no negligence on its part, his neighbours have decided to take a protest march to the hospital on Monday evening demanding that the incident be thoroughly probed.
Naren, a Std III student in Thane's Euro School, fell from a height of about 5 feet while playing on a slide in his Iris Apartments building on Ghodbunder Road on February 11. He fractured his left arm in two places.
His father, Ram Subramaniam, a manger at a private firm, rushed him to the nearby Hiranandani Hospital, where doctors said Naren will have to undergo a minor surgery. He was operated on the next day, but never regained consciousness, according to the family and neighbours.
"He was playing on a cell phone minutes before he was taken in for the surgery," said a neighbour who did not want to be named. "When they wheeled him out after the surgery, he was not in his senses. Just minutes later, he turned pale. Soon, doctors said he had slipped into a coma. He was Ram's only child."
The same night, Naren's family moved him to Jupiter Hospital, as doctors at Hiranandani said they did not have facilities to treat him further. Late on Saturday night, doctors declared Naren dead.
"I really don't know what to say," said his father Ram. "All I can say is that after we found out about his condition, we immediately decided that we should donate his organs so that other people will at least get a shot at life." While Naren's family is yet to recover from the shock, his relatives and neighbours, who were with the family through the ordeal, alleged negligence on the part of the hospital.
"How could a healthy nine-yearold child die after a minor surgery for fractures?" said a resident, who was with the family since the first day. "The doctors and experts we checked with said he could have been killed due to a wrong dose of anaesthesia." Dr Sujit Chatterjee, CEO, Hiranandani Hospital, insisted that the hospital did everything right. "It was a minor surgery and the patient recovered from the effects of anaesthesia," said Dr Chatterjee. "He then suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and we revived him.
But he went into a state of unconsciousness because of the brain damage caused by the cardiac arrest. We are a small facility and hence suggested that he be transferred to a bigger hospital. The cardiac arrest and subsequent complications had nothing to do with surgery."
On Sunday, Naren's body was taken to Thane Civil Hospital for a post mortem. Dr Mahendra Kendre, who performed the post mortem, reserved his opinion on the cause of death. "It is acase of post-operative death," said Dr Kendre. "We have preserved his viscera for further analysis and will be able to give our opinion on the cause of death only later."
Forensic experts said a thorough chemical analysis of Naren's blood samples will reveal the exact dosage of anaesthesia he was administered. "In a case of post-operative death of a patient, the post-mortem should have been done at a medical college in the presence of a senior forensic expert," said Dr Rajesh Dere, forensic expert, Sion Hospital. "To get to the root cause, blood samples of the deceased need to be well preserved and sent for chemical analysis. That would reveal the dose of anaesthetic administered. Also, examination of the viscera and lung tissues will throw more light. Prima facie it does seem to be a case of wrong anaesthetic dosage leading to cardiac arrest."
The medical team at Jupiter Hospital, meanwhile, could not stop lauding Naren's family for their decision to donate the boy's organs. When doctors told Naren's parents that he was brain dead, social workers asked the family if they would be willing to donate his organs.
"They did not even bat an eyelid," said Prashant Sawant, head, human resources, Jupiter Hospital. "We are touched that in their time of sorrow, they put aside their emotions. As per govt guidelines, Naren was then declared dead and we began the process of retrieving his organs. We also started calling potential recipients."
On Sunday afternoon, two transplant surgeries - one of Naren's kidneys and the other of his liver - began. His other kidney and eyes were given to other hospitals for transplants there. At the time of going to press, the transplants at Jupiter were in process. "It's a rare case," said Sawant. "The child in question was really young. Just about 10 per cent of all families we approach agree to donate organs. Even on such occasions, several people back out at the last minute. But Naren's parents were more than helpful."
Naren's family was to leave on Monday morning for Bangalore, where they were to perform his last rites. His neighbours, meanwhile, will go on a protest march on Monday evening to demand a thorough probe into Naren's death.
The family, which alleges negligence on part of the hospital, readily agreed to donate his organs, giving a new lease of life to five people.
While one of his kidneys and his liver were being transplanted to two patients at the time of going to press, his eyes and the other kidney will soon be transplanted to three others.
The Thane police, meanwhile, have registered a medico legal case. The Vartak Nagar police, who recorded the statements of the boy's parents and hospital officials, will now transfer the case to Kasarwadavli police, under whose jurisdiction the hospital falls.
While Hiranandani Hospital, where the victim Naren Prakash was operated on, maintained there was no negligence on its part, his neighbours have decided to take a protest march to the hospital on Monday evening demanding that the incident be thoroughly probed.
Naren, a Std III student in Thane's Euro School, fell from a height of about 5 feet while playing on a slide in his Iris Apartments building on Ghodbunder Road on February 11. He fractured his left arm in two places.
His father, Ram Subramaniam, a manger at a private firm, rushed him to the nearby Hiranandani Hospital, where doctors said Naren will have to undergo a minor surgery. He was operated on the next day, but never regained consciousness, according to the family and neighbours.
"He was playing on a cell phone minutes before he was taken in for the surgery," said a neighbour who did not want to be named. "When they wheeled him out after the surgery, he was not in his senses. Just minutes later, he turned pale. Soon, doctors said he had slipped into a coma. He was Ram's only child."
The same night, Naren's family moved him to Jupiter Hospital, as doctors at Hiranandani said they did not have facilities to treat him further. Late on Saturday night, doctors declared Naren dead.
"I really don't know what to say," said his father Ram. "All I can say is that after we found out about his condition, we immediately decided that we should donate his organs so that other people will at least get a shot at life." While Naren's family is yet to recover from the shock, his relatives and neighbours, who were with the family through the ordeal, alleged negligence on the part of the hospital.
"How could a healthy nine-yearold child die after a minor surgery for fractures?" said a resident, who was with the family since the first day. "The doctors and experts we checked with said he could have been killed due to a wrong dose of anaesthesia." Dr Sujit Chatterjee, CEO, Hiranandani Hospital, insisted that the hospital did everything right. "It was a minor surgery and the patient recovered from the effects of anaesthesia," said Dr Chatterjee. "He then suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and we revived him.
But he went into a state of unconsciousness because of the brain damage caused by the cardiac arrest. We are a small facility and hence suggested that he be transferred to a bigger hospital. The cardiac arrest and subsequent complications had nothing to do with surgery."
On Sunday, Naren's body was taken to Thane Civil Hospital for a post mortem. Dr Mahendra Kendre, who performed the post mortem, reserved his opinion on the cause of death. "It is acase of post-operative death," said Dr Kendre. "We have preserved his viscera for further analysis and will be able to give our opinion on the cause of death only later."
Forensic experts said a thorough chemical analysis of Naren's blood samples will reveal the exact dosage of anaesthesia he was administered. "In a case of post-operative death of a patient, the post-mortem should have been done at a medical college in the presence of a senior forensic expert," said Dr Rajesh Dere, forensic expert, Sion Hospital. "To get to the root cause, blood samples of the deceased need to be well preserved and sent for chemical analysis. That would reveal the dose of anaesthetic administered. Also, examination of the viscera and lung tissues will throw more light. Prima facie it does seem to be a case of wrong anaesthetic dosage leading to cardiac arrest."
The medical team at Jupiter Hospital, meanwhile, could not stop lauding Naren's family for their decision to donate the boy's organs. When doctors told Naren's parents that he was brain dead, social workers asked the family if they would be willing to donate his organs.
"They did not even bat an eyelid," said Prashant Sawant, head, human resources, Jupiter Hospital. "We are touched that in their time of sorrow, they put aside their emotions. As per govt guidelines, Naren was then declared dead and we began the process of retrieving his organs. We also started calling potential recipients."
On Sunday afternoon, two transplant surgeries - one of Naren's kidneys and the other of his liver - began. His other kidney and eyes were given to other hospitals for transplants there. At the time of going to press, the transplants at Jupiter were in process. "It's a rare case," said Sawant. "The child in question was really young. Just about 10 per cent of all families we approach agree to donate organs. Even on such occasions, several people back out at the last minute. But Naren's parents were more than helpful."
Naren's family was to leave on Monday morning for Bangalore, where they were to perform his last rites. His neighbours, meanwhile, will go on a protest march on Monday evening to demand a thorough probe into Naren's death.
No comments:
Post a Comment