GPHC launches probe into death of two young cancer patients

Jan 21, 2019 News

– third child on life support

Top officials at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) have launched an investigation into the deaths of two young cancer patients, even as a third child is on life support at the institution.

Dead: Three years- old Roshnie Seegobin

Critical: six year- old Sherezer Mendonca

Reports indicate that three year- old Roshnie Seegobin and Corwin Edwards died while undergoing treatment for leukemia at GPHC. Roshnie succumbed last Saturday. while Corwin passed away earlier in the week.
The third child, six year-old Sherezer Mendonca, has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Relatives of the children said that GPHC officials have not been forthcoming with information about the incident.
However, an official confirmed the deaths to Kaieteur News and stated that a report will be released when an ongoing investigation is completed.
Hospital staffers who treated the children are said to be ‘devastated’ by the incident. Information indicates that the children’s conditions worsened rapidly after they were administered with an injection.
Romel Seegobin, the father of Roshnie Seegobin, told this newspaper that his daughter Roshnie was being treated for the disease for more than a year.
He said that she has been undergoing chemotherapy and was responding to the treatment well.
“This is not the first time she going for treatment. She was making progress. So we really can’t understand what happen because she make it through all difficult procedures.”
According to Seegobin, little Roshanie was in high spirits when she went to the hospital. She had appeared to be recovering following three months in the hospital.
Mr. Seegobin said that his daughter was rushed to GPHC last Friday and admitted to the ICU where she died the following day.
Prior to that, she had visited the hospital for a regular check up and chemotherapy session.
“She went normal for the treatment and a staff gave she the injection before the chemotherapy.
But at home, Roshnie developed “a high fever” and was unable to walk.
The child was reportedly rushed back to the GPHC from her home at Enmore, East Coast Demerara.
She became unresponsive and died suddenly.

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Azeena Bakraj, the aunt of Sherezer Mendonca, who is still hospitalized,
said that it was only last December that the family found out that the bubbly six- year old had leukemia.
The child was hospitalized briefly at the Suddie Hospital before being transferred to the GPHC, where the cancer diagnosis was made.
The aunt noted that on January 3, last, her niece and two other children (Seegobin and Edwards) were taken from the Pediatric ward of GPHC to undergo chemotherapy.
However before chemotherapy, the children were reportedly administered injections.
“It was at this point that my niece began complaining about severe body pains. The pain left her in a state of paralysis and she became unresponsive and was transferred to the ICU, where she remains on life support.”
Bakraj said that the child’s parents have been trying to get answers from the hospital.
She said that her niece has not shown any sign of improvement.
“So far, what we have learnt after several enquiries and meetings with medical personnel is that the injection may have been wrongfully administered by a trainee doctor at GPHC,” Bakraj said.
“We understand that the staff responsible for administering the injection has been transferred to another department. What we understand is that the senior doctor was absent when the staff injected the children. They were [allegedly] injected in the wrong area with a higher dosage than is required for chemotherapy treatment,” Bakraj added.
While she is praying that her niece pulls through, the woman is still hoping that the hospital can reveal what exactly went wrong.

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