No proper treatment, no ambulance: Three-year-old dies in Bihar

In what appears to be a case of medical negligence, a three-year-old in Jehnabad, Bihar died due to lack of proper treatment and non-availability of an ambulance.

Jehnabad: A three-year-old child died in Bihar's Jehanabad district allegedly due to lack of proper treatment at a hospital here and non-availability of an ambulance to take him to a Patna facility, triggering the authorities to suspend the manager of the hospital on Saturday.

Jehanabad District Magistrate Navin Kumar also show- caused two other officials and recommended the health department to take action against two doctors and four nurses of the Sadar Hospital who were on duty at the time of the incident on Friday, officials said.

The three-year-old boy was admitted to the Sadar Hospital with symptoms of high fever, cough and breathing problem, its Superintendent Dr B K Jha said adding that he was referred to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) for better treatment after administering first aid.

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The Sadar Hospital allegedly did not provide the child with any treatment, nor arranged for an ambulance to take him to the PMCH. The boy's father Brajesh Kumar Singh, a resident of Sahopur village under Kurtha police station area of the district, claimed that two-three ambulances were present at the hospital premises but he did not get one to take his son to the PMCH.

Later, one person provided Singh with his car to take the child to the PMCH but he died before it could leave Jehanabad town, sources said.

Taking serious note of the incident, the DM has served a show cause notice to the Civil Surgeon-cum-Chief Medical Officer of Jehanabad and the Sadar Hospital Superintendent asking them to explain within 24 hours why action will not be taken against them for the child's death.

He also suspended the Sadar Hospitals manager Kunal Bharti. (PTI)