Karnataka doctor booked after boy dies following alleged wrong injections

Bengaluru: A government doctor at a hospital in Channapatna town was booked after a four-and-a-half-year-old boy died following a cobra bite, with the child's family alleging that he was administered a tetanus injection and another injection instead of the required anti-snake venom (ASV). 

The boy was taken to Channapatna Government Hospital within minutes of being bitten. However, according to his family, the doctor allegedly administered the two injections instead of ASV and advised them to shift the child to another hospital. The family claimed that the delay in receiving the appropriate treatment worsened his condition.  

According to reports, the child was bitten by a cobra on April 28 at around 5.50 pm. His family said he was brought to the government hospital by 6 pm, within the crucial early period after the bite.    

The family further alleged that the government hospital did not provide an ambulance, forcing them to arrange private transport to take the boy to a hospital in Bengaluru. He was later admitted to a private hospital in RR Nagar, where he died two days after the snakebite. 

The family alleged that doctors at the private hospital examined the treatment records from Channapatna and found that anti-snake venom had not been administered.

Following the death, Channapatna town police initially registered a case of unnatural death. The child's father later approached the Karnataka High Court, alleging negligence in the treatment and seeking registration of an FIR against the doctor.   

The High Court directed police to register the case within 60 days. Channapatna Town police subsequently registered an FIR against the doctor based on a complaint submitted by the child's uncle.

The doctor, who was earlier posted at the Channapatna government hospital, had reportedly been suspended following the incident.

According to TNIE, he added, by the time I hired a private ambulance to shift my nephew to a hospital in Bengaluru, the poison had already spread. We took him to a private hospital in RR Nagar where doctors, while going through the government hospital’s treatment chart, said that instead of giving the ASV injection, two other injections had been given. If the doctor had given the ASV injection, my nephew would have been alive. Though it was sheer negligence on the part of the doctor, there was no FIR against him. Then his father approached the High Court”.