KOZHIKODE: The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Friday ordered to provide Rs 50,000 from the salary of a duty doctor to a boy who lost his scrotum because of the doctor’s alleged negligence. The commission penalised Dr Deepa V Soman, of the Taluk Hospital in Vythiri, after seeking reports from the district medical officer (DMO) and district child protection officer.
The incident took place at the Vythiri hospital on December 5, 2019. Around 11.45pm, a local resident brought his 11-year-old boy, who was suffering from a swollen and painful scrotum, to the hospital. As per the father’s complaint, the duty doctor did not consult the boy properly, and the casualty section was chained and locked at the time.
The doctor gave a paracetamol injection and casually advised him to take the boy to a surgeon. When he took the boy to a private hospital the next day, the physicians said it was an emergency case that required immediate surgery. Further, the boy’s scrotum was removed at the private hospital.
Though the commission sought an explanation from the doctor twice on the issue, she did not respond. The commission members, K Naseer and B Babitha, felt the doctor was at lapse in conveying the seriousness of the case to the parent which resulted in the boy losing his scrotum.
The commission also ordered the health secretary to conduct a departmental probe into the failure of the doctor and a staff nurse, Nufail, in the incident. The DMO’s report said the casualty wing was not locked when the boy was brought in and Dr Deepa had consulted the patient but advised follow up as the hospital has neither a surgeon nor a Doppler ultrasound scanning facility.