Children hospital: Comments sought on medical negligence

Petitioner prayed the court to direct the SHO to register an FIR against Dr Saima.

LAHORE:

Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Tariq Mehmood Zargham sought comments from the Naseerabad SHO on Wednesday on a petition against a Children’s Hospital doctor, who the complainant said refused to examine a child who later died.

Petitioner Muhammad Ameen submitted that he had requested Dr Saima, who was on-duty, to examine his nephew at 11pm on March 11, but she refused and said she was going to sleep.

Ameen said his nephew had already been admitted to the hospital. He said Dr Saima told him to arrange for O+ blood, which he did in half an hour. However, when he took his nephew to her room, she did not see him, said Ameen.

He said he had requested other hospital staff to carry out the transfusion but they refused to do so without Dr Saima’s approval. Ameen said he then took his nephew to the Emergency Room but was again directed to seek Dr Saima’s approval.

He said he tried to persuade other doctors to authorise the transfusion but none did. Dr Saima, he said, saw the child at 5:30am and told him to take him to the ICU. He died on the way to the ward, Ameen said. He said his nephew would not have died if the blood transfusion had been ordered on time. He said he had gone to the SHO concerned, but he had ignored the complainant. He prayed the court to direct the SHO to register an FIR against Dr Saima.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2013.