Port Kaituma man blames son’s death on doctor’s negligence

Apr 29, 2015 News

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– calls for swift investigation
A young Port Kaituma couple, Robin Albert and Onica Atkinson, is mourning the loss of

their almost one-year-old son whose death they believe was the direct result of negligence on the part of the attending doctor.  The young child, Reuel Albert, who was born on May 15, 2014, passed away yesterday, after suffering for close to one week, from what the doctor said was a heavy cold.
Speaking to this publication yesterday, Albert, the child’s father, said that his son first took ill over the Easter holiday weekend while he was away on work detail in the interior. He disclosed that upon his return his reputed wife, Atkinson, told him that his only child had a severe cold and she had taken him to the hospital for treatment. Atkinson, who is also the mother of an older child, had taken her sick son to the Region One, Port Kaituma hospital, after observing that he had a runny nose, red eyes and was constantly sneezing.
Both Atkinson and Albert are adamant that they administered the medication prescribed for the child as ordered by the doctor. But instead of improving, the child’s condition became worse, recalled Albert, who noted that he paid especially close attention to his son. “He started wheezing like he couldn’t breathe,” recalled Albert who is still coming to terms with the death of his son.
Although he was required to return to work, Albert said that he hadn’t the heart to leave his son

in his ailing condition. By Friday April 17, he said that he and his reputed wife decided to again take the child to the hospital for further medical attention. The same doctor was on call and, according to Albert, upon seeing the child’s worsened condition, a decision was immediately made to admit him. “They started treating him; they gave him an antibiotic injection and something else…that’s what the doctor tell me,” said Albert who noted that his son was hospitalised for five days before there was any sign of improvement.
“The cold was still there and very heavy but the wheezing eased,” recalled Albert who added that “everybody wanted to know why they discharging him because he wasn’t strong, he still had this bad cold.”
Albert however, noted that the doctor had advised him and his reputed wife to return with their sick child on Monday April 27 for follow-up attention, but advised that they could have returned ahead of the appointment date if the child’s condition worsened. The day before the appointment the couple was forced to rush their child back to the hospital as his condition became worse, complete with a high fever and his left shoulder visibly swollen.
At the hospital last Sunday, the weakened child was again admitted and administered an antibiotic injection which seemed to alleviate the fever and wheezing symptoms.
However the child’s swollen shoulder was still very evident. The doctor, according to Albert, concluded that the swollen shoulder “look like is some abscess or something.”
“I kept going to the hospital…I know I had to go to work but I couldn’t bring myself to leave with me son in the hospital…I spend most of my time at that hospital,” said the troubled Albert during an interview with this publication yesterday.
The following day, the man said that he kept checking with the doctor to get an update on his son’s condition. “I kept waiting for the doctor to run the ward…is not like it had plenty people…it had one pregnant woman and another woman that just get baby,” recounted Albert. He also disclosed that he was troubled by the fact that not even a nurse had administered his son’s treatment by the designated time. According to him, by lunch time previously, his son was given the injection but on Monday this did not occur. He noted that it wasn’t until the doctor arrived sometime around 15:00 hours (3pm) that attempts were made to attend to his son.
The attempts however almost caused the 30-year-old Albert to have an emotional breakdown. “They bore my son up about 20 times trying to get a vein…even the doctor boring and boring and the nurses boring and boring and can’t find a vein…it was hard to watch what they do me son,” said Albert who disclosed that the  inability to find a vein seemed to frustrate the doctor. “He started saying he ain’t even know what wrong with this child and how he gon transfer him to Mabaruma (hospital),” added the man who said that he instead asked the doctor to transfer his child to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
The man said that while the doctor eventually agreed to transfer the child to Georgetown, he however noted that the case was not being treated as an emergency.
It wasn’t until the child developed a breathing problem Albert noted, that the child was administered oxygen and his case deemed an emergency.  “Suddenly the doctor say prepare to medevac the child…he couldn’t breathe,” disclosed Albert.
Atkinson, who was too distraught yesterday to speak, with her child in her arms, was accompanied by the doctor as they headed for the Port Kaituma airstrip to board a plane for the medical evacuation.
However, it was while on the airstrip yesterday Albert disclosed that his son stopped breathing altogether and was pronounced dead by the doctor.
The man is convinced that had the doctor transferred his son earlier he could have still been alive.  “If he know he couldn’t handle the case he could’ve simply say so; don’t kill people’s children out. These people need to be more alert, because it is not the first time things like this happen,” said the saddened man who is calling for swift action to be taken by the relevant health authority concerning the death of his son.

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