Boy dies due to alleged negligence of doctor

Villagers protest, block KKH, causing minor to die in ambulance in traffic gridlock

ABBOTTABAD: A 15-year old boy died due to the alleged negligence of doctors at Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) on Thursday. The incident sparked a protest in the city where locals blocked Karakoram Highway outside the facility for over an hour.

According to Malik Sarwar, a former candidate for general councillor’s seat from ward number 2, Choona Kari told journalists his paternal nephew, Ahmed Ali, 15, collapsed after slipping on the floor on Thursday.

He suffered a head injury and was rushed to ATH where the doctor in the emergency department referred him to the medical ward. However, when they reached medical ward, the doctor on duty asked them to take the patient to the neurology ward.

“The staff at neurology ward asked me to get Ali’s CT scan and MRI done from a private laboratory and when we got back to the ward after collecting reports, there was no doctor in the ward,” Sarwar quoted Kari as saying. He added, “Dr Haider Ali reached the ward after taraweeh prayers and administered an injection to the patient.  But instead of recovering, Ali died after few minutes.” Kari attributed his nephew’s death to the negligence of the doctor.

The aftermath

When the boy died, his father Malik Rafique asked why the doctor had arrived so late. As a result, the doctor, along with his staff, started thrashing the victim’s father.

This led to a protest by the family who was joined by hundreds of villagers. They took the body of the deceased and placed it in the middle of Karakoram Highway, outside ATH. The demonstration continued for two hours where people shouted slogans against the hospital administration and demanded legal action against the doctor.

During the protest, an ambulance from Mansehra carrying a three-year-old boy was unable to pass through. The boy, who was reportedly dehydrated, died before he could reach the hospital.

However, local administration intervened, dispersed the infuriated crowd and cleared the road.

When contacted, ATH Medical Director Dr Salim Afzal said Ali was an epileptic patient and had received a head injury after suffering from a fit.

He added he had however ordered an enquiry. “Anyone found guilty of negligence from the hospital will be punished,” Afzal said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2016.