-“Child was moved against the advice of the medical practitioners”- GPHC CEO
By Lakhram Bhagirat
Samantha Kandasammy and Michael Singh, the parents of three-year-old Anisha Singh, are accusing some doctors at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) of serious malpractice, which they claim resulted in the death of their toddler.
Anisha, of Lot 2 Edon Street, Tucville, Georgetown, passed away at a private institution at around 02:00h on Monday morning after her parents transferred her from the GPHC.
Chronicling the incidents that led up to the death of her daughter, Kandasammy related that she took her toddler to the GPHC on July 7, 2017 for medical treatment after she was dreary and had a cold. She explained that she related the child’s symptoms to the doctor who said that she did not have a cold and requested that a CT scan be done for further evaluation.
Following the CT scan, the doctors informed Kandasammy that they discovered a mass and that a Magnetic Resonance Imagery (MRI) test was needed. The MRI revealed what doctors suspected to be an abscess in Anisha’s brain and treatment was administered but the child’s health began to spiral downwards.
Anisha’s health took a further turn for the worst when her parents realised she was unable to urinate and defecate. She was immediately rushed again to the GPHC but the doctors reportedly turned her away dismissing her condition as one not to worry about.
“She was sent away and then I got up some money and went to a private hospital and when I go to the hospital, the man take in the baby right away. When he checked the baby, he find pneumonia on she and he start treating she and he said she got to get admit but we tell he that she can’t get admit because we don’t have money,” Kandasammy said.
“He wrote a referral letter and sent us to GPHC,” the grieving mother recalled, but while at the GPHC, her child was again discharged.
The woman said she then took her daughter to the private hospital once again where she was admitted for two days and treated for pneumonia but money ran out and the family was once again in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit of the GPHC.
Anisha, whose health was rapidly deteriorating, was made to wait some four hours in the A&E Unit before she was admitted and had to wait additional hours before she was given any medication.
The distraught mother related that the child’s condition improved slightly but that improvement was short-lived. She said that the doctors at the GPHC continued to treat Anisha for a brain tumour, indicating to her that the toddler would not make it.
Kandasammy and her husband, Michael, told this publication that the doctors refused to produce their daughter’s medical records when they requested a copy in their attempt to seek a second opinion and possible treatment at other institutions.
“To get her out of the hospital was a problem and we tell them that we want to take self-discharge and take she to another facility and to give we the baby and they don’t want to do that… They refused to give us the medical report and till this morning (Tuesday) when the baby done dead then they send the report. We had people going up to them telling them that we need the report to go overseas and they didn’t give the record,” an irate Michael Singh said.
The medical report, seen by this publication, stated the three-year-old was diagnosed with brainstem glioma. Childhood brainstem glioma is a disease in which benign (no cancer) or malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissue of the brainstem. The report said that no surgical intervention was recommended.
The report did give permission for the parents to move the child via air ambulance for the requested overseas treatment. However, that consent came a little too late.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of the GPHC George Lewis, told this media group that he is aware of the incident.
“I know of the matter. I know of the transfer that was requested by the relatives. I know that the doctors at the Georgetown [Public] Hospital advised the relatives that the child should not be moved because it was dangerous. There was a demand for the child to be moved and the child was moved against the advice of the medical practitioners,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister within the Public Health Ministry, Dr Karen Cummings told this publication on Tuesday that she was unaware of the incident but noted that she will ask for a briefing on the matter.
Anisha’s parents are now contemplating action against the doctors, whom they blame for the death of their youngest child. The grieving father noted that he hopes the hospital launches a probe into the death of the toddler.
On September 3, 2017, one-month-old Hailey Henry lost her life at the GPHC, with her parents claiming that she was overdosed with antibiotics.
