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Hospital under investigation over ten-year-old boy’s death
View(s):A private hospital is under investigation following the death of a ten-year-old boy, who underwent a bone marrow transplant to overcome Thalassaemia.
At a coroner’s court inquiry, it was claimed that the hospital had made a mistake in identifying the boy’s blood group and a bone that was removed during surgery had been found inside the body two months later when the boy was readmitted to a state hospital.
Praneeth Dinidu Wasala from Galigamuwa underwent surgery at the private hospital on February 2, but two months later, his parents noticed a swelling on the right side of his chest, the court was told. The parents told the coroner they were in financial difficulties as they had spent a large sum on the surgery at the private hospital and therefore, they took the boy to the Government Children’s Hospital. It was here that the doctors discovered that a bone that had been removed during surgery had still been inside the body. In May, the boy underwent another operation to remove the bone. Subsequently, he had to undergo a blood transfusion due to his deteriorating health.
The parents said they took their son to the Government Children’s Hospital and here they had discovered that the boy’s blood group was B+ but it was described as A+ in the records of the private hospital and was later corrected using a correction pen. The parents said they suspected that the boy had been given the wrong blood during the first operation at the private hospital and that this had led to complications and to their son’s death.
The father said he was suing the hospital for the death of his son. The coroner gave an open verdict, and ordered a full investigation into the death of the boy.