The family of a nine-month-old infant has alleged that medical negligence led to the child’s death at Padma General Hospital in the capital.
A relative raised the allegation during a Facebook Live session late Sunday night, claiming that no doctor was available when the child’s condition deteriorated in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
The hospital, however, denied the allegation, saying the child died of cardiac arrest.
The relatives said nine-month-old Ayan Abdullah was admitted to Padma General Hospital on September 1.
The child’s mother alleged that when his condition worsened while he was receiving treatment in the PICU, repeated attempts to call a doctor went unanswered.
“If a child dies right now—if their breathing stops—what happens to them? The child had developed complications beforehand. My allegation is that this occurred precisely because of negligence in duty,” she said.
The relatives also alleged that no doctor was available near their ward.
“There were no doctors in the vicinity of our ward. We went to the doctors’ room nearby. There are several doctors’ rooms; we checked those too. There wasn’t a doctor anywhere. There wasn’t even a doctor from the NICU present,” they said.
Dr Nazmul Haque, a medical officer at the hospital, said the child died of cardiac arrest. He said the child had remained stable until around 8pm but stopped breathing around 9pm.
Dr Md Atiqul Islam, a consultant at the hospital, said he was informed about the situation during the night.
“I asked if my presence was required, but the hospital told me it wasn’t anything serious,” he said.
Zahirul Islam Anik, an administrative officer at Padma General Hospital, said the allegation could be checked through CCTV footage.
“Whether a doctor was present or not can be verified by checking the CCTV footage. We will investigate the matter. We have doctors and nurses on duty 24 hours a day,” he said.
He denied the allegation of medical negligence.
