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Three doctors disciplined over children cancer patient deaths
Dead: Roshini Seegobin
Kaieteur News – The medical doctors who were under investigation for the deaths of three child cancer patients at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) were relieved of their duties at the hospital and are undergoing a final disciplinary review. This was revealed to Kaieteur News by a senior official at the hospital yesterday.
The doctors had come under investigation after three children who were undergoing treatment for a type of cancer called leukaemia succumbed after receiving a misadministration of drug dosages from them.
Reports given stated that the medication was given to each of the children in the form of post-chemotherapy injections between January 3 and January 4. On January 5, it was realized that the wrong dosage had been administered to the children and they started to develop unusual symptoms.
Curwayne Edwards was the first of the children to pass away – the seven-year-old took his last breath on January 14. His death was followed by three-year-old Roshini Seegobin four days later. The last child to succumb was Sharezer Mendonca, a six-year-old, who passed until January 29.
Dead: Sharezer Mendonca
Kaieteur News understands that while one family decided to pursue a legal case, the other two families decided to settle for financial compensation from the hospital. Following the deaths of the children, an investigation was launched by the GPHC to find a reason for the adverse reaction to the medication administered by the doctors.
“That investigation involves the interviewing of all medical persons directly involved, along with an assessment of the medication administered. Further, the usage of that medication has been discontinued,” the hospital had said.
Along with the GPHC’s investigation, the Ministry of Health had conducted an investigation as well and both investigations concluded that the incorrect dosage of drugs administered along with systemic issues at the hospital had contributed to the children’s death.
It was disclosed that the doctors were sent on administrative leave in light of the investigation being conducted and were awaiting its conclusion. Reports also surfaced that one of the doctors dismissed was employed through the Ministry of Health and will be in front of a disciplinary committee of the Medical Council, who is currently carrying out their final disciplinary review.
The Council’s preliminary review seen by this publication stated that the Medical Council identified some actions of the doctors in the “Chemotherapy mal-administration” to the three children. The review went on to state that the Medical Council has considered the systemic factors that may have contributed to the deaths of the children and that the GPHC had taken immediate steps to establish new protocols to ensure proper administration and monitoring of complex drug regimens.
“The Council was thus reasonably assured that the possibility of a similar occurrence in the future is unlikely. In considering whether the doctors involved in this case posed an immediate danger to patients and whether it was prudent to temporarily remove them from practice, the council decided that same was not the case,” the Council said in their review.
The final review will be conducted by the Medical Council’s Disciplinary Committee and, based on the conclusion, further action will be determined.
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