THRISSUR: Sona, a six-year-old girl from Pattikkad near Peechi, has just returned from Coimbatore after consulting an eye specialist who suggested that she would need to undergo another surgery to sustain her vision.
Sporting a pair of goggles, Sona looks much healthier now. But the torrid time she underwent just a month ago still rankles her parents, Babu and Leena. Rashes that appeared all over her body, including on the eyes, following treatment at Jubilee Mission Hospital in Thrissur looked incurable.
On March 11, Sona was admitted to the hospital, after she fainted in the night. Doctors told Babu and Leena that Sona had seizures that led to her fainting.
“They kept her in the ICU for four days and gave some injections. Then we returned home as they gave us medicines for six months. They did alert us that it may reappear. But after some days, the rashes started appearing and we took her back to the hospital. They said she had measles and gave medicine for it. But we got suspicious as the rashes didn't look like measles. Then Dr Johny Vincent directed us to meet a skin specialist,” said Babu. Upon examining Sona, the skin specialist said it was an allergic reaction to the medicine she had consumed.
“After consulting with our friends and family, we decided to take Sona to the Medical College Hospital, where they gave her the best care and treatment. It took over a month to get rid of the rashes while one surgery was done on her eyes,” said Babu.
Babu, a pump operator of the Jalanidhi project under Pananchery grama panchayat, is currently jobless after the project got stalled following the mid-August flood.
The parents alleged misdiagnosis led to the girl's bitter experience. “We will lodge a complaint once her treatment is over. As of now, we are running between the Medical College and Aravind Eye Hospital in Coimbatore for her check-up,” he said.
Charges denied
The hospital authorities refuted the allegations saying there was no misdiagnosis. “When the girl was brought to the hospital casualty on May 11, as per the report she had symptoms of severe seizures that continued for 20 minutes and the treatment was done based on that. Later, when the skin rashes appeared, it was also diagnosed as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome,” said the official sources of the hospital, adding that it would welcome any kind of probe.