The family said the boy’s health started deteriorating immediately after the doctor administered anaesthesia.
Police have registered a case after the family of a 16-year-old boy accused a doctor of negligence following the death of the boy, who had been taken to a private clinic in Jamshedpur on Thursday for an operation to remove his appendix.
According to the family, the boy was in good health, but his condition deteriorated soon after he was administered anaesthesia ahead of the surgery. He was later rushed to the district hospital from the private clinic by the doctor, but was declared dead on arrival, said his father, Mehmood.
Mehmood explained that his son had been complaining of stomach pains for a few days, due to which he was taken to a doctor, who advised an X-ray, and later a surgery to remove the appendix.
“After this, I brought him to the private clinic. My son, along with his mother, rode a bike to the hospital,” he said.
The family said the boy’s health started deteriorating immediately after the doctor administered anaesthesia. “He had gone to the clinic riding a bike with his mother. He was completely fine. But as soon as the injection was given, he started behaving abnormally and died within a short time,” the father said.
According to Mehmood, the doctor had demanded Rs 25,000 for the surgery, of which Rs 10,000 had already been paid in advance, while the remaining Rs 15,000 was to be paid after the operation.
The family claimed that when the doctor realised the situation was serious, he immediately started the procedure to shift the boy to the district hospital.
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“Without our consent, he was transferred to the sadar hospital, telling us that he immediately needs to be shifted to the ICU. The doctor said that he is taking him to the government hospital as he is also serving there,” said Mehmood.
Police said an FIR has been filed. According to officers, the boy had been called for the scheduled appendix surgery after undergoing preliminary tests.
“During the course of the procedure, his health worsened suddenly. The doctor, along with his assistant, shifted him to Sadar Hospital, where he was declared dead,” said Parsudih police station in charge Avinash Kumar.
Police said the family has alleged that the boy’s condition worsened after an anaesthesia injection, possibly due to an incorrect dosage. “We are not medical experts, but it appears that there could have been an issue related to anaesthesia. This will be clear only after the postmortem report,” Kumar said.
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Banna Gupta, a Congress leader and former health minister, met the family at the hospital and demanded a detailed inquiry into the case. “This is a very mysterious death of a minor. The family has a right to know the cause of the death, which is why the inquiry should be very serious and transparent,” he said.
