Bangalore: Child dies of suspected anaesthesia overdose at dental clinic

Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Feb 7: Shirish, three-year-old son of K S Lokesh, who owns a chain of hotels in the city, and residing in HSR Lay Out here, and  his wife, Asha, reportedly lost his life within minutes of being injected with anaesthesia at a dental clinic in the city on Wednesday February 6.

Asha had taken her younger son, Shirish, whose third birthday the family was to celebrate on March 12, to Annayya ENT and Dental Clinic at fifth sector of HSR Layout as he had complained of toothache the earlier night. At around 8.00 am, Asha said, Dr Raviraj of the clinic administered anaesthesia to do root canal. The child became unconscious within minutes thereafter and remained so even after three hours. The doctors kept assuring the mother that the child would wake up shortly.

After waiting for long, the doctors of the clinic took the boy to Garden City Hospital, Jayanagar. The doctors of this hospital tried to revive the child, but did not succeed.

Relatives then beat up dentist, Dr Raviraj, and anaesthetist, Dr Raghavendra, at the Jayanagar hospital, alleging medical negligence on their part, and ransacked the clinic premises. They claim that Shirish had breathed his last of cardiac arrest within seconds of administering anaesthesia, but that the doctors had tried to conceal the truth. They also said the action of the doctors in taking the baby to Jayanagar instead of nearby St John's Hospital has also proved that there was foul play.

The body was handed over to the parents after conducting post mortem at KIMS.

A case of medical negligence in this connection stands registered in Madiwala police station here, against the doctors and staff of the hospital. Asha said that she had reached the hospital at 7.30 am, and Dr Raviraj, at around 8.00 am, told her that root canal procedure would have to be performed on the boy immediately to ease pain. She saw anaesthesia being injected into the boy's mouth, and shifting of the boy to the ward by the doctors sometime thereafter.

"To my repeated questions on the boy being shifted to the ward instead of being treated in the clinic, neither the doctor, nor the hospital staff provided satisfactory answers. I was not allowed to see the boy, but the behaviour of the people there suggested that something was amiss," she said.

She said Dr Raviraj and others administered more injections to the boy, who was not moving. Only at around 10 am was she told that the boy had suffered cardiac arrest, and that he was not responding to treatment. She said when she insisted on knowing the problem, the doctor told her that there was something wrong with her son, and that he would be shifted to a hospital. She panicked and called her husband, she explained. She said doctors at Garden Hospital had a hushed talk with Dr Raviraj, but told nothing to her. At around 1.30 pm, she was informed that her son was no more.

The police said they will wait till the post mortem report is received, and take action only depending upon its findings on the cause of the boy's death.

Dr Raviraj said he had done nothing wrong, and that vomitting and then swallowing it back on the part of the boy might have caused cardiac arrest. Dr Dhanraj, brother of Dr Raviraj, said that the boy suffered heart attacks thrice on Wednesday.

The doctors have also filed complaint of assault against the concerned.