'Negligence' of medics leads to amputation of infant's arm

KARACHI:

The Pirabad police have registered a case against a doctor and other medical staff of a private hospital over alleged negligence that resulted in the amputation of an infant's left hand.

The incident allegedly occurred on August 31 at a private hospital in Orangi Town, while the case was registered on September 9 under Sections 336 and 337-H(i) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the complaint, the infant's father, Izzatullah, took his one-month-old son, Azmatullah, to the nearby private hospital between 6pm and 7pm on August 31 after the child fell ill. He said the doctor ordered antibiotics and had a cannula inserted in the baby's left hand by three unidentified members of the medical staff before it was bandaged.

The father alleged that injections were administered through the cannula six to seven times. When he returned to the hospital with his son four days later, the doctor removed the bandage and found that the child's hand had turned completely black.

The doctor reportedly prescribed Brufen, Panadol and other medicines, telling the father that the condition would improve. However, as the infection appeared to be worsening, he took the child to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Doctors there allegedly told him that the cannula had been inserted incorrectly by the earlier doctor and medical staff, resulting in an infection, and that the child's hand would have to be amputated.

The father then took the infant to another private medical complex, where doctors reportedly warned that the infection posed a threat to the child's life and that amputation was necessary to save him.

According to the complainant, doctors performed surgery and amputated the child's left hand up to the arm due to the infection allegedly caused by the improper insertion of the cannula.