Six-year-old died of multi-organ failure: Tests

[Ronan Kelly]

Six-year-old died of multi-organ failure: Tests
TNN 27 October 2009, 05:46am IST

PANAJI: The histopathology tests on the six-year-old girl who died under mysterious circumstances at Hospicio hospital, Margao on October 15 have
revealed that she died of multi-organ failure.

"Tests revealed that the cause of death was an infective process leading to multi-organ failure," said Dr Wiseman Pinto, head of pathology, Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim. Pinto, who conducted the tests, explained that the child's lungs, brain, liver and kidneys were infected. The organism that caused the infection, however, could not be identified.

Said a GMC doctor, "The type of infection has to be ascertained by microbiological tests which should be carried out either while the person is living or within an hour of the person's death. In this case, the autopsy was done two days after the child died. The blood samples collected during the autopsy were sent to the microbiology department, but due to the waiting period of two days the samples got autolysed (spoiled) and haemolysed (red blood corpuscles were destroyed), and in such cases the causative organism couldn't be identified."

The histopathology report, meanwhile, revealed that the minor's lungs, kidneys and brain showed congestion and micro haemorrhages. Her liver showed dilation, congestion of sinusoids and mild fatty change. In the lungs and the liver there was focal infiltration of lymphocytes, clearly indicating infection in the body.

The child had visited her mother and sister who were admitted to Hospicio hospital on October 14. When she felt sick shortly later, doctors conducted a test. Though everything was found to be normal, she was allowed to stay in the hospital ward at night, said Margao police. The next day the six-year-old vomited and died soon after.

The girl's parents have accused doctors of negligence and a panel of doctors at GMC have been asked to conduct tests and submit the post mortem report.

While the panchanama has been conducted, police and hospital doctors are awaiting the post mortem report.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Six-year-old-died-of-multi-organ-failure-Tests/articleshow/5166752.cms

[Roehl_JC]

Re: Six-year-old died of multi-organ failure: Tests

Thanks RoRo....seems to me that conditions CAN NOT be the cause of death, and the way they've handled this poor child's autopsy without finding a single pathogen...that's messy to say the least. It's obvious there was a pathogen, and it sounds like they don't want to find one.

Couldn't they arrange to send samples to the CDC?

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Six-year-old died of multi-organ failure: Tests

5-yr-old dies at Hospicio
TNN 25 October 2009, 04:31am IST

MARGAO: Barely a week after the death of a six-year-old girl at the Hospicio hospital, Margao, another five-year-old girl admitted to the same
hospital died of unknown reasons early Friday morning.

Sources informed that Radhika, daughter of Pushpadevi and Suman Upadhyay, was admitted to Hospicio hospital on Thursday after she complained of stomach ache and nausea. After medication, her condition began to improve and was seemingly quite well by Thursday evening.

However, by 3.30am on Friday, when her mother saw Radhika turning pale and breathing heavily, she brought it to the notice of the nurse on duty. Though the nurse attended to her, Radhika's condition worsened and she died at 4.30am. The Upadhyays are natives of Bihar and were staying at Cuncolim for the last ten years.

High drama, however, unfolded later. Sources said that a distraught Suman Upadhyay was prevented from entering the gates of Hospicio, when he rushed there on learning of Radhika's death. A scuffle ensued between the security guards and Suman and he even sustained injuries. Hospital authorities said that Upadhyay was prevented from entering the hospital as he was in a drunken state and creating nuisance.

However, what has raised eyebrows is the fact that the Hospicio authorities failed to refer the body of Radhika for post-mortem, and instead handed over the body to her parents soon after her death. Speaking to reporters, medical superintendent of Hospicio, Dr Ruando D'Sa, said that the child's father urged doctors not to conduct a post-mortem on the body, even as he maintained that there was no case of medical negligence. But, he failed to state what led to her death. "The post-mortem could have revealed the cause of the death. But, we respected the parent's wishes and allowed them to take away the body," a hospital source said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/5-yr-old-dies-at-Hospicio/articleshow/5155590.cms

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Six-year-old died of multi-organ failure: Tests

Girl collapses on campus, dies
TNN 28 October 2009, 07:05am IST

KOLKATA: A 15-year-old schoolgirl, with a heart ailment, collapsed on the campus just before school assembly on Tuesday and died on the way to
hospital. Vedika Goyel had undergone a heart valve surgery in Bangalore in March 2008. She took a long break from school at that time. However, after she joined back she enthusiastically started participating in all activities, say the school authorities.

Vedika was also part of the team practicing since September for the school's annual show, Spectrum, scheduled for January. It involves several physical activities like drill and march past.

When principal Patralekha Ghosh was asked if it was right for a girl with a heart condition to be participating in such activities, she said: "We were not advised against it by her parents. Also, she was perfectly normal in school all these days, was extremely active and above-average in studies. She did
not give us any indication that she wasn't fit for such activities. Moreover, when she collapsed near her classroom, our assembly hadn't started for the day, leave alone the march past."

Ghosh claimed Vedika was filling up her waterbottle at a water cooler just outside her classroom before coming downstairs for the assembly.

"She started vomiting. We knew that she was not well, so we rushed her to hospital. On the way she started gasping for breath," the principal said. Vedika was pronounced dead at Belle Vue Clinic.

Though suspicions were raised that she might have suffered the effects of a prolonged drill practice for a school show, the authorities of Ashoke Hall denied it. The girl's family, too, did not lodge any complaint.

Some classmates of Vedika said that after she complained of feeling unwell and refused to go to the assembly, some teachers ordered that she should leave the classroom immediately and appear at the assembly.

"It was then that she started vomiting and cried out that she was feeling faint," some girls said.

Belle Vue CEO, Pradeep Tandon, said: "By the time the girl was brought in, she had already died. The parents

left with the body around 10 am. Her father brought her medical records and we saw that she had undergone a valve surgery in Bangalore."

An officer from Bhowanipore police station said it was a case of natural death and that the parents did not lodge any complaint against the school.

At the Goyel residence on Jyotindramohan Avenue, a pall of gloom had descended.

"We do not wish to talk about all this. Vedika was participating in the drill routinely, nothing had happened then. We cannot explain our loss to you. Please keep our daughter off controversy," said Vedika's father, Ravi Kumar Goyel. "We are calling it a natural death, so should you."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Girl-collapses-on-campus-dies/articleshow/5170567.cms