THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, Nov 6: Has the episode of ‘aspirate’ hastened the death of a 14-month-old boy child?
Aspirate is a term which suggests the intake of liquid that accidentally goes down to the lungs, which often proves fatal. Has the little child become a victim of a bout of aspirate? The tragedy occurred on Wednesday. The deceased’s family hails from Panki.
Sources said the luckless child was having IV fluid to overcome severe and critical diarrhoea when, in the meantime sip of oral rehydration syrup was applied by the family, which proved fatal.
It’s feared the sip just slipped into the lungs, causing fatality. Post-mortem report is awaited for the exact cause of death of this child.
The death does not come under the ambit of either treatment failure or medical negligence.
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Incident occurred in private hospital’s PICU
The incident occurred in the PICU (Paediatric Intensive Care Unit) of a reputed private hospital and not in any ‘clinic, nursing home or premise’ even of a highly noted and well-known child specialist Dr A K Pathak.
Town police have confirmed the death of the child to have occurred in the PICU of the private hospital and not in the clinic or premises of Dr Pathak.
The death of the child has reached the town police station. The parent of the deceased child has given a written complaint in this regard.
Police deny FIR rumours, await medical findings
Officer in charge of the town police station Jyoti Lal Rajwar told the Jharkhand Story Network correspondent, “The deceased family has given us a complaint. It is being professionally examined. Post mortem was conducted by a board of doctors. We are awaiting its findings.”
The police officer outright dismissed ‘some bits of information carried in news platforms about the FIR lodged against Dr Pathak. “There is no FIR at all. It’s a sheer misinformation. Police are doing a meticulous scrutiny of this episode,” Rajwar said.
Supreme Court guidelines on doctors cited
The Supreme Court in its landmark ruling has ordered that FIR should not be registered against a doctor in a medical negligence case without a preliminary inquiry by a competent doctor or committee.
Again the Supreme Court has strictly forbidden any harassment to the doctor concerned, asking police not to harass the doctor and to avoid premature blame.
The Apex Court has further ruled that treatment failure is not a medical negligence, as police must first obtain cogent proof of fault on the part of the attending doctor for the death of the patient.
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Doctor’s role and experience underlined
Here in this case, the skill and experience of Dr Pathak is of two decades and has an unblemished track record of treatment.
The Supreme Court has in its ruling asked for ‘reasonable care’ on the part of the doctor and here in this case Dr Pathak prevailed upon the family of the child to get him admitted first which the family was reluctant and hesitant.
Sources said it was Dr Pathak who persuaded the family to get the child admitted without any delay.
Under the advice of Dr Pathak, the child was admitted to the PICU of a reputed private hospital.
As part of life saving measure and to reduce any waste of time to start the treatment the child was given a prescription of medicines by Dr Pathak for the immediacy of start of the treatment in the PICU, with medicines purchased in advance by the family.
Investigation under SDPO supervision
Sadar SDPO Mani Bhushan Prasad told the Jharkhand Story Network correspondent, “I have asked the officer in charge of the town police station to be very meticulous and systematic in the investigation into this case. As an SDPO, I am here to supervise the case.”
The Supreme Court has noted the need for caution, as a mere lodging of the FIR against a doctor doesn’t call for the arrest of the doctor. The burden of proof of medical negligence is to be substantive with credible evidence.
The entire proceedings of medical treatment of this child in the PICU were under the surveillance of the CCTV cameras, said sources.
