Hospital's paediatric dept banned by Govt after alleged medical negligence case

Tirunelveli: Taking action against a private hospital in Parappadi near Nanguneri accused of medical negligence while treating a six-year-old girl, the District Administration on Thursday banned the paediatric treatment facility at the hospital.

Issuing a directive, the district authorities suspended the approval to offer paediatric treatment at the private hospital after prima facie evidence of medical negligence was found in respect of the concerned six-year-old girl's death.

Apart from this, the District Collector Dr. K P Karthikeyan informed that a detailed inquiry will be conducted in this connection and a recommendation for further action against the hospital would be made after that.

The concerned patient had undergone treatment for fever at a private hospital and following this, she was referred to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TvMCH) by the private facility.

As per the sources, the patient was suffering from fever on November 24. When she was taken to the private hospital, she was administered an injection and after recovery, she was taken back home.

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However, a few days later, she fell ill again and she was once again taken to the private hospital. Afterward, she was referred to TvMCH, where she passed away on December 6.

As per the latest media report by the New Indian Express, the parents of the deceased alleged that she died due to the side effect of the injection that was administered at the private hospital. Consequently, they lodged a complaint in this regard.

Referring to the incident, the district administration issued a statement and mentioned that based on the complaint by the deceased girl's parents with the Nanguneri police, an inspection was carried out at the private Hospital, by a team headed by Joint Director (Health) Dr. Latha. During the inspection, discrepancies were found, added the statement issued by the district administration.

The statement further mentioned, "A direction has been issued to the hospital, suspending its permission to perform paediatric treatment. Private hospitals should not administer injection to fever patients without conducting blood tests, and must follow fever treatment protocol when treating patients. If there is any violation, the license of private hospitals will be cancelled."

Commenting on the matter, Dr. Latha, who led the inspection at the private hospital, told TNIE that an inquiry inflicted on the child during the administration of the injection had become septic.

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