Family blames doctor for child’s death from dengue
As no bed could be found vacant in the hospital at the time, he asked the child’s family to take her home
A nine-year-old girl died of dengue on Monday at the city’s BIRDEM Hospital. Her family alleged that Purbasha could have been saved had Dr Amrita Lal Halder dealt her case sincerely.
According to a source at BIRDEM, on July 21 the third grader, who had been suffering from fever, was taken to Halder, a resident physician at the hospital at Shahbagh.
Following the doctor’s advise, she had a blood test; and was subsequently diagnosed as having dengue with a low platelet count.
Upon consulting with the test report, Dr Halder, in the first place, suggested hospitalisation for Purbasha; however, as no bed could be found vacant in the hospital at the time, he asked the child’s family to take her home.
The ailing child was admitted in BIRDEM Hospital-2 in Segunbagicha in the morning of the following day (July 22), where she went into shock syndrome, which requires shifting a patient to ICU.
As the hospital didn’t have any ICU, the girl was being shifted to another hospital. She died on the way to the other hospital.
Purbasha is a daughter of Abdus Samad, a resident of Farmgate. She was a student of class three at Tejgaon Girls School.
Her family alleged that Dr Halder did not even take her blood pressure, let alone performing a physical check-up on the girl.
Her family members said, seeing that there was no vacant bed at BIRDEM, Dr Halder should have referred the patient to another hospital; and thus her life might have been saved.
The family deplored the unavailability of ICU at a hospital of BIRDEM’s stature.
The Business Standard tried to reach Dr Halder on his phone on several occasions for his comments on the matter with no response, whatsoever.
Purbasha was buried in Laksham, Cumilla, on Tuesday.
Speaking to The Business Standard, her uncle, Tusher, said that they will make a complaint against the doctor after Purbasha’s parents comes out of the trance they are presently in in consequence of their child’s unexpected death.
When asked, Farid Kabir, public relations director at the BIRDEM Hospital, said the hospital authority have not received any complaint from the deceased family, as yet.
“If they lodge a complaint, a decision would be taken in this regard.”
