Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (UM)

Udupi, Apr 29: A child that had been referred to a doctor after suffering from dysentery died on the night of Monday April 27. The parents of the child have blamed the doctor to whom they had referred the child initially, of medical negligence, which they claimed caused the death of their child.

Ten-month-old Adrika was the child of Shekhar Bovi, working as professor in the district institute of education and training (DIET) and Srimati, who is employed in the government treasury in the town. As the baby was suffering from dysentery, on April 2, they had taken the child to Krishnamurty Clinic in the town. Dr Krishnamurty had injected medicine to the child and prescribed medicines. As the child began to vomit, it was taken to Dr Krishnamurty again at 6 pm the next day.

The parents of the child claim that the doctor then asked them to go to Gandhi Hospital for further treatment. After getting treated there, the child began to vomit uncontrollably on April 4. Even after the nurses were told that the child was displaying clear symptoms of dehydration, the nurses did not pay attention to this suggestion of the parents. At 4 am on April 5, the child suffered from epileptic seizures, and it was shifted to the intensive care unit of the hospital. The doctors, who conducted electral test on the child, found that it was suffering from low level of sodium in the blood. When the child again suffered from seizures, the doctors asked the parents on April 5 to admit the child into another hospital.

The child was taken in the vehicle of Gandhi Hospital and admitted into the intensive care unit of another hospital, and the doctors who conducted tests, found that the kidneys of the child were not properly functioning and suggested that the child should be put through dialysis. They then performed dialysis, duly telling the parents that in normal course dialysis is not resorted to in case of small children.

The health condition of the child however continued to deteriorate, and reached a critical stage. At 7.30 pm on April 27, the child breathed its last.

The parents, in a complaint filed in the town police station here, have said that the child's health showed clear symptoms of slipping from bad to worse after Dr Krishnamurty treated the child. Father of the child has charged Dr Krishnamurty Upadhyaya of medical negligence in treating the child and thereby causing the death of the child.