Parents of an 11-day-old baby girl, who died at the pediatric ward of the hospital early morning, staged protests accusing doctors of negligence. [break]
The newborn of Sangita Rai, 18, of Sonapur-1 in Sunsari district, died at around 2 am Tuesday while undergoing treatment.
The newborn had a hole in her heart.
Parents say their baby died after a doctor used a pipe used for feeding milk to the newborn to administer oxygen.
“Soon after the doctor used the milk-pipe for oxygen, the baby´s hands, legs and face started swelling,” said Raj Kumari Rai, Sangita´s mother-in-law. “Then, doctors panicked. They stepped up treatment. But, the baby died.”
“The baby´s health was improving,” said Gopal Rai, Sangita´s father-in-law. “But, all of a sudden, our baby died.”
Parents agreed to receive the body only after the hospital administration pledged to form a panel to look into the incident. “We have been told that the hospital will complete the investigation within seven days,” Gopal said.
However, Prof Dr BP Das, the hospital director, ruled out possibilities of carelessness on the part of doctors.
“There is always a possibility of human error,” Dr Das said. “But, this case does not deserve a serious probe. However, I have sought proper information from the pediatric department.”
Similarly, Dr Gauri Shankar Shah, chief of the pediatric department, claimed that the baby died because of complications related to the baby´s heart and respiratory system. However, no one confirmed if the baby had been administered oxygen.
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