VIJAYAWADA: The parents of a four-year-old girl, who succumbed to suspected dengue, on Saturday staged a protest in front of a private hospital in the city, alleging that she was given wrong treatment. They said they were forced to pay Rs 4 lakh for the six-day treatment.
The reports that the hospital authorities refused to hand over the body to the relatives demanding money, was dismissed by district health officials.
Even as the bereaved parents and their relatives demanded an explanation from the hospital, police intervened and pacified them, promising to hold an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the death of the girl.
Though no police case was registered, District Medical and Health Officer TSR Murthy has launched a probe.
According to him, T Akshara, daughter of T Guru Brahma of Illendu mandal in Khammam district of Telangana, developed fever on October 3 and was treated by a local RMP.
She was taken to a private nursing home in Khammam a day later, from where she was shifted to Vijayawada on doctors’ advice as her condition deteriorated.
She was admitted to Blossom Hospital at Sikhamani centre on October 5.
In the inquiry, it was found that Akshara was in an ‘unresponsive’ state and had altered sensorium at the time of admission.
Later, she was diagnosed with viral encephalitis and tested positive for dengue in a medical test conducted by the hospital.
“However, the blood samples were not sent for the confirmation test. During treatment, she developed hypotension and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), which resulted in her death. She died on Thursday night and the probable cause for her death is stated to be MODS and viral encephalitis,’’ Dr Murthy said.
“We found that she was brought to the hospital in a critical state and she did not respond to treatment,” Dr Murthy told TNIE.
On the allegations of exorbitant fees charged by the hospital, he said, “We came to know that around Rs 4 lakh was collected for the treatment. However, we did not receive any complaint from the parents and initiated an inquiry based on the information from television news channels and social media.”
Akshara’s relatives, who left for their native place after the protest, posted videos of the protest on social media, in which they alleged that three units of platelets were transfused and many tests were done on the girl, repetitively.
Showing the bills, they said the hospital charged Rs 1,000 per day towards nursing charges and Rs 1,500 for the services of junior doctors.
“In order to pay the hospital fees, we have mortgaged our house. The hospital authorities have provided wrong treatment to our child, leading to her death,’’ the family members alleged.
Efforts to contact the hospital authorities and doctors, who treated the girl, over phone and personally proved futile.