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Sunday, 22 August 2010

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Gross negligence:

Laws needed to regulate private hospitals

Sadiq was watching as the nurse took a dose of 'deriphyllin' and tried to administer the drug to his baby son who had been in the private hospital for the past two days undergoing treatment for wheezing.

Although he was not a medical expert, Sadiq noticed that the 30 ml dose prescribed for his 11-year-old son was too much.

He made inquiries from the nurse and received a prompt reply. The nurse said that 30 ml is for a day and each dose is 10 ml to be given three times a day.

Still it did not make any sense to Sadiq as 10 ml would be too much for a baby of that age. He was not happy with the response. The baby was to be discharged that morning and it was his last dose at the hospital.

It was August 15, and on his return home with his wife Sadiq was still uneasy about what he witnessed at the hospital. After some time the baby showed discomfort in breathing and his behaviour changed.

Sadiq contacted the hospital and was put on to another doctor. The doctor said deriphyllin should not be administered more than 2.5ml - 3ml to an infant.

The doctor said that there was no need to return to the hospital and the baby would be safe.

Sadiq was not happy. He contacted his family doctor on the phone and narrated the whole incident. The doctor was shocked to hear the infant had been given 10ml of 'deriphylline' three times a day.

Due to its numerous side effects the drug theophylline (generic name) should not be given in excess. (Drugsupdate.com).

As per his advice the baby was rushed to the Kalubowila Hospital and he was admitted to ward 15 A. In the admission card the house doctor wrote 'Over dose of deriphyllin in a private hospital - 10ml dose given'

Much to the relief of parents, the child did not show any critical signs other than vomiting.

Sadiq, leaving the baby with the wife, rushed to the private hospital to inquire as to who had made the mistake and inform the hospital authorities of the negligence by its staff.

When being confronted by the infuriated father, the staff allegedly admitted that there had been an overdose of the drug. They insisted the child be brought back to them to keep him under observation. The parents brought the baby back.

At the time the child was discharged in the morning they had settled the hospital bill for treatments for two days.

When they were asked to re-admit the child the hospital allegedly said there won't be a need of payments as they wanted to keep him under observation.

When the child recovered miraculously without showing signs of distress synonymous with deriphyllin overdose, the hospital started to play a different tune. The child was ready to be discharged on August 17. They demanded payments from the anguished parents. The doctor who made the mistake with the prescription that indicated the baby should be given 30ml in eight hourly tried to evade the issue.

Outraged, the parents decided to lodge an entry to the police. Then they contacted the Health Department and reported the negligence of a private hospital in Colombo.

The child recovered by the grace of God. However, Sadiq wrote to the Manager, Medical Services of the hospital that he was displeased and shocked by the gross negligence and actions of Doctors and the staff.

In response to numerous complaints against private hospitals the Health Ministry decided on Thursday to amend the Private Medical Institutions Registrations Act immediately so that the Government is in a better position to take action against such incidents.

Complaints against private medical institutions, irregularities and malpractices have increased. In a recent incident reported to the Health Department, a private hospital had charged Rs. 1.5 million from a person whose wife died due to medical negligence after childbirth.

The Private Medical Institutions Regulatory Council set up under the Act has no adequate powers to take action against private hospitals violating the rights of patients, the Health Ministry spokesman W.M.D. Wanninayake said.

Sunday observer believes the new amendments should spell out tough laws to block black-market style private hospitals from charging relatives of persons who perish due to medical negligence.

This is an urgent need of the hour.

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