Team Herald
panjim: When a worried Chandrashekhar Uttam Khedekar rushed his two-year-old daughter Rakshita to the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Ponda, she was breathless and quite ill. For the past day, Rakshita had been suffering from loose motions and even ORS had not made the condition better. However, according to Chandrashekhar, the doctor attending to the child did not admit her and sent her back. At home her condition worsened, and when they took her back the next morning, she was admitted. But Rakshita died shortly after this.
Recovering from the shock of his daugther’s death on November 24, Chandrashekhar filed a complaint at Ponda Police Station on Tuesday against two doctors, a child specialist and a Medical Officer in the OPD alleging medical negligence. In his complaint, Chandrashekhar, a resident of Priol in Ponda, alleged that that the doctors were responsible for failing to diagnose the child’s medical condition and treat her properly, and further trying to hushup the incident by turning it into a case of natural death and he was pressured into accepting this, though he did not want to.
According to the father, Rakshita started having loose motions on November 22 and though she was treated with ORS, her condition did not improve. On November 23, she was feeling breathless and a private doctor referred us to the ID Hospital. “She had a similar outbreak a few months back as well. We took her to the ID Hospital around 9.45 pm on November 23. At 11.15 pm, the paediatric doctor decided to discharge her. My wife wanted to keep the child admitted, but the doctor did not agree. Rakshita stayed restless and sick all night at home, so we took her back to the ID Hospital the next morning. They started the treatment, but she passed away after a while,” said Chandrashekhar.
However, the medical authorities have denied the allegations. SDH Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Jayshree Marcaikar in a statement issued earlier rejected the allegations of negligence and delay in treatment.
She said doctor on duty followed all protocols and gave immediate treatment after admitting child. While she said there was no sign of dehydration, the death certificate mentions that Rakshita had dehydration for two days.