An alleged overdose of anaesthesia by doctors at a private hospital in Srinagar has damaged the brain of a 14-month-old baby girl when she was undergoing treatment a year ago.
However, the family of the girl says, the authorities at the hospital do not even bother to accept the guilt rather challenge them to file a case against them.
Shafat Ahmad Bhat, uncle of the baby girl told KNO that her niece, Zikra Farooq, daughter of Farooq Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Aali Kadal, who was only 14-month-old, was taken to ASG Eye hospital in Qamarwari for treatment.
“Soon after we approached the doctors there, they gave us some exercises which didn’t work. A month after, the doctors said that she will be administered some drugs through injection for which local anaesthesia was mandatory,” Bhat said.
He said the doctors at that time claimed that the process would only take 20 minutes.
“However, when we gave our consent for the procedure to the doctors, the girl was taken for the treatment where an overdose of anaesthesia was given to her at theatre following which the doctors claimed she is alright and asked us to take her to home,” he said.
Bhat said when she carried her niece in his lap, he found her overweighed.
“When I asked the doctors about the reason, they rejected my concern and said that she is alright,” he said.
“However, after the family raised doubts with the doctors,” Bhat said, “the hospital authorities accepted to take her to SKIMS Soura for a check-up.”
“Soon after we reached SKIMS, the doctors there admitted the baby girl at ICU, as her condition was going from bad to worse,” he said, adding that the family has come to know through the officials present at ASG Eye Hospital that the baby patient was given an overdose of anaesthesia as she had not responded to the first anaesthesia given to her.
After 26 days in ICU at SKIMS Soura, she was later referred to PGI Hospital. Since the last year, the family has been treating her at New Delhi.
“Every single visit to the hospital is costing us a huge amount. It is all due to the negligence of the doctors at the private hospital, ” he said.
Zikra, who is presently over 2-years-old, is not able to walk or move since the negligence at the private hospital has damaged her brain.
“It is painful to see that the doctors do not even accept their mistake but, in return, challenge us to file a case against them,” Bhat said.
“We are going to stage a protest tomorrow at Press Enclave to highlight the negligence of the doctors. We don’t want other patients to suffer like we are at present. Such arrogant doctors are trying to become ‘rowdy’ rather than accepting their fault and ensuring proper treatment to patients especially the children,” he said.
Meanwhile, manager of the hospital, Rameez Ahmad, while talking to KNO rejected the family’s allegation, saying that the process of syringing and probing was to be carried in the eye of the patient for which she was given anaesthesia, which was mandatory for her as the baby could not have tolerated the procedure.
“We had already got the consent of the family before giving anaesthesia to the child. The consent paper has mentioned that the anaesthesia sometimes claims the life of the patient. Despite this, the hospital has spent over Rs 1 lakh on her treatment so far and is now asking the family to follow the procedure so that they can be assisted further,” he said.
Rameez said “anaesthesia is a dose” and there is nothing like negligence in the matter.
“We are concerned about the patient too and are asking the family to follow a proper procedure so that they can get assistance for the treatment of their child. We cannot bear the expenses of treatment but have helped her on humanitarian grounds in whatever way possible,” he said. (KNO)