4-year-old dies during minor surgery, kin alleges negligence

New Delhi: The sudden death of a four-year-old boy during a minor medical procedure at SK Jain Hospital in East Delhi’s Pandav Nagar has triggered outrage and prompted an investigation into alleged medical negligence. 

The child, identified as Viraj Sharma, was admitted to the hospital on the morning of May 29 for a routine operation. According to his family, the procedure was supposed to last just 15 minutes. Tragically, within an hour of being taken into the operation theatre, the boy was declared dead.

Viraj’s father, Gaurav Sharma, a 39-year-old graphic designer at a Noida-based software company, shared that his son would have started Class 1 next year. The doctors had assured the family that it was just a 15-minute procedure. On May 22, they had recommended some tests to determine if Viraj was fit for the procedure.

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As per the recent media reports by the Indian Express, the test results, his father said, were normal, and the doctors had agreed to conduct the operation. “On May 28, the doctor told me to bring my son the next morning. On Thursday, around 8 am, I took my son to the hospital. At 8:40 am, they took him to the Operation Theatre and told me that it would be done in 15 minutes,” the boy’s father said.

The father waited outside the operation theatre until 9:15 am before receiving an update. Doctors informed him that an injection given to Viraj before the operation had caused an adverse reaction. They said the boy was breathing heavily and that his condition was critical.

According to the news reports, the father recalled being taken to the operating theatre, where he witnessed doctors using electrical equipment to pump his son's chest. Soon after, he was informed that Viraj needed to be transferred to another hospital. He mentioned that his son’s nose was bleeding, his nails had turned blue, and his body felt cold. Viraj was not moving at all. Still, holding on to one last hope, he took him to Makar Hospital.

Doctors at Makar Hospital declared the child dead upon arrival. A police complaint has since been lodged at the Pandav Nagar police station, and Viraj’s father has also submitted a written appeal to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (East District).

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Speaking to the Indian Express, Dr Ankit Jain, who was overseeing the treatment of Viraj at the SK Jain Hospital, stated that the postmortem report was awaited to ascertain the cause of the death. “After the inquiry, only we will know the exact reason for the death,” he said.