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MRI scanner killed child, alleges Kaushalya's
parents:
Hospital denies allegations:
Private medical sector fights shy of accountability
By Manjula Fernando
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Indumathi Ekanayake
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Kaushalya Ekanayake, a five-year-old, diagnosed with a neuro
developmental disorder medically termed as Rett Syndrome was admitted to
a leading private hospital in Colombo on January 31.
An apparently healthy child according to her mother Indumathie
Ekanayake, she was referred to the family's regular paediatrician in the
private hospital after the child showed signs of developing 'mild fits'
the previous day.
The child's father, a service Manager in a reputed local company, was
undergoing training in Singapore at the time. So the parents decided to
ward the child in hospital until the tests prescribed by the doctor,
three blood tests and a scan, are done.
On February 1, the little girl who went downstairs to the scan room
with her mother, allegedly showing no signs of serious illness, came out
a total vegetable. She was proclaimed brain dead five days later and
removed from the life support system at the Surgical Intensive Care Unit
(SICU)of the hospital. The parents accuse that an accident which
occurred while in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tunnel killed
their daughter and to cover it up the child had been kept in the SICU
for five days, a claim denied by the hospital management.
Below is the full statement the mother made to the Fort Magistrate at
the Magisterial inquiry on the death of Kaushalya Ekanayake.
Ekanayake Mudiyanselage Indumathi Ekanayake, 40, of Heiyanthuduwa:
I brought the child to the Nawaloka Hospital on January 31. She is my
third child. The previous day she went stiff for a few seconds and
returned to normalcy repetitively about three times between short
intervals. This is the reason why I wanted her to see a doctor. There
was no major medical issue involved but I did it as a precaution.
She was taken to our Paediatrician Dr. Duminda Pathirana at the
Nawaloka Hospital. He directed to take three blood tests and an MRI
scan. I decided to ward my daughter to get the tests done. The next day,
February 1 she had to fast in view of the MRI scan. I took her down to
the scan room with a ward attendant.
I went into the scan room and stayed with her till she was
anaesthetised. Then I was asked to be seated outside. The scan started
around 4.15pm. The door was not closed and from the reflection on the
tiled floor I watched the scene inside.
Her 'Loku Akki', holding Kaushalya's doll |
While on a trip to Singapore |
Kaushalya with her parents and siblings |
Kaushalya attended the same Nursery school as her sisters |
After about ten minutes I heard a loud noise. It sounded like 'dok'.
Then the anaesthetist who was near the scanner started shouting and
appealed for help saying the 'oxygen bag' had burst and she needed help.
The technician who was operating the scanner rushed in. The doctor
(anaesthetist) was screaming for help but for a long time no one
arrived. I pushed the attendant who was with me to go in thinking that
she could help. But that person was running here and there not knowing
what to do.
When they took my daughter out of the scanner, I saw that she had
turned blue, her body was completely stiff and her belly was swollen
like a balloon. The other staff and a doctor arrived at the scene after
about 8-10 minutes. They struggled to find a proper oxygen mask that
fitted my daughter.
When I insisted to know what had happened the doctor said it was not
their fault, but a fault on the part of the management. But I was not
informed that my child was dead. She was taken to the SICU.
Her limbs had gone cold and stiff but even after four days the staff
or the doctors did not tell us that the child was dead. They used a
vacuum to make her limbs warm when we complained about how cold they
were. I felt they were trying to deceive us to cover up the fact that
she died due to the accident in the MRI machine.
On the fourth day I saw ants in her nostrils and the next day a red
colour liquid seeped out from her nose and ear. When inquired the staff
said it was normal.
When I troubled them for answers as to what had happened with the
child they called the Slave Island Police and asked to remove me from
the hospital, the complaint being that a dead child's mother was
behaving unruly. Even at that time we were not officially informed that
the child had died.
It broke my heart to see a hearse from Jayaratne Parlour being called
up by the Hospital to take away my child, whose death was yet to be
communicated to her parents.
| Although cases in State hospitals are widely reported and given huge
publicity, more often than not private medical institutions use maximum
influence to conceal whatever wrongs committed or occur within their
four walls. The existing provisions hardly empower the aggrieved to seek
effective legal redress. Like doctors who take patients to ransom on
their unfair demands this sector too has been sapping the life blood
from the ailing innocents.
Prescribing advanced medical tests such as Computerised Tomography
(CT) and MRI scan, which are required strictly for serious medical cases
seem to have become part of routine check-ups in many private hospitals.
Accountability is still searching its place in the private medical
sector in Sri Lanka. At the expense of people's lives, they are minting
money and this too without any hindrance in the absence of a proper
regulatory body.
Unfortunately the media cannot keep up the momentum forever and the
massive public outcry created soon after an incident dies down
gradually. Then again it will be business as usual. |
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They wanted us to sign the papers to remove her from the life
supporting machines. We refused to do so as we believed that she was
kept on life support and we had to undergo such pain seeing her in that
condition, for no justifiable reason. She was kept in the SICU to cover
up the accidental death five days-ago.
A hospital staffer then approached us and asked us not to worry about
the Hospital bill. In-fact we were not issued a bill for the five days'
treatment in the SICU, even though we asked for it. This raised my
suspicions.
I appeal to the Magistrate to conduct a fair inquiry and not allow it
to be covered up by money-power.
The Magisterial inquiry into the death of the little girl was
conducted by the Fort Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne who promised the
mother everything in his capacity to ensure that justice will be done.
The next hearing date was fixed for February 18 when a statement from
the father of the child, Thilanka Ratnayake will be recorded.
Testimonies of the MRI scan operator and the doctor who referred the
child for an MRI scan Duminda Pathirana will also be recorded the same
day.
The Police
Crime OIC of the Slave Island Police IP Nalaka Gunasekera in charge
of the preliminary investigation on the death of the child said they
have called for a technical report from a Professor of IT at the Colombo
University to ascertain if there had been any tampering with the
particular MRI scanner and alteration of reports issued.
Another report has been asked from the Health Services Director
General on the procedure to be adopted to perform an MRI scan on a child
with suspected epileptic seizures and the regulations on anaesthetising
such a patient. A report has also been called on the condition of the
MRI scanner, whether the machine conforms to national health standards
and if it has been serviced regularly.
The Crime OIC said following the preliminary Magisterial inquiry, the
case will be referred to the Private Medical Institutions Regulatory
Council. The reports will then be referred to the Attorney General for
advice and if negligence on part of the Hospital is substantially proven
the police will be advised to proceed with legal action.
The Judicial Medical Officer's (JMO) report which can confirm the
definite time of death and the cause of death is still pending.
[ What the Hospital says...]
The Hospital in a press release denied the accusations by Kaushalya's
parents that the child died due to an accident that occurred on the MRI
scanner. It claims that she had been having fits which is common with
Rett Syndrome patients and that she had been treated for a long time for
this condition by consultant paediatricians. Before the MRI scan she had
had another bout of fits and suffered a cardiac arrest. It says 'the
child was never put to the MRI machine and in fact the machine was never
started'.
Consultants and emergency medical personnel from various disciplines
rushed in and were able to resuscitate the child.
The child was immediately taken to the SICU, but unfortunately she
passed away while in the SICU. |
