Tension prevailed on NIMHANS premises for some time on Thursday when relatives of an 18-month-old boy with head injuries, who was rushed to Bengaluru from Hassan government hospital through zero traffic within 1 hour 40 minutes but succumbed on Wednesday, staged a protest.
The parents of the boy, from Gonibeedu in Sakleshpur, alleged a delay in treatment, but NIMHANS authorities maintained that they were informed about the poor prognosis and unavailability of a ventilator bed.
The boy slipped from the stairs while playing and sustained severe head injuries. He was rushed to a local hospital and then to Hassan district hospital where the doctors referred him to NIMHANS.
Based on the parents’ request, the police arranged zero traffic to shift the boy to the hospital. “Even though the boy was brought to the hospital in record time, he was not admitted citing lack of bed even after one hour. This was despite informing the hospital well in advance before coming to the hospital,” the parents alleged and added that their son succumbed to his injuries while waiting to get a bed.
The boy’s relatives staged a protest alleging that doctors’ negligence led to the death. The jurisdictional Siddapura police reached the spot to pacify the protesters. The hospital submitted an MLC report to the police which will be transferred to Gonibeedu police for further investigation.
Meanwhile, NIMHANS, in a statement, said, “The patient’s family was explained about the poor prognosis based on the clinical and radiological findings and that the patient was unlikely to improve with treatment. The unavailability of a ventilator bed was also communicated. The patient had severe bradycardia and cardiac arrest and could not be revived despite best efforts.”
