Chinese parents of dead boy accuse clinic staff of medical negligence
Child suffers seizures and dies after receiving standard emergency treatment
The grieving parents of a toddler who died after receiving an injection at a hospital clinic in Guangdong province last Thursday are demanding a forensic investigation into their son’s death, which they say resulted from medical negligence.
The parents took the boy’s body home, and they and relatives scuffled with police who tried to retrieve it late on Friday, the Southern Metropolis News reported on Monday.
The father, Zhou Huayin, sent his one-year-old son, who had developed a severe cough, to the Dongping outpatient clinic run by Qishi Hospital in Dongguan on Wednesday, the paper reported.
The mother, Cao Haiqiong, told the News that a male doctor ordered oxygen and an electrocardiogram, while a nurse gave the child an injection.
“We found it odd but the staff were speaking Cantonese. As outsiders of Guangdong, we did not understand a word,” Cao said.
The boy suffered seizures about five minutes after the injection, Cao said, and the family to called for help. By the time a doctor from Qishi Hospital’s emergency unit arrived, the child had died.
Citing an identified doctor at the Dongping clinic, the Southern Metropolis News reported that the child was in poor condition when he arrived at the clinic. The doctor said it was normal procedure to give the patient oxygen and a cardiogram, and that the non-prescribed dosage of adrenaline hydrochloride was a standard emergency treatment to prevent cardiac arrest.
A hospital spokesman said the child had shown no symptoms of cardio problems, such as dilated pupils, when he was sent to the clinic.
Protests and assaults by disgruntled patients or relatives are frequent in mainland hospitals, where a number of medical staff have been injured or even killed on duty.
