Medical Council to decide today on T&T pathologist’s application to examine Adriana’s body  

May 12, 2025 News

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Adriana Younge’s case…

Kaieteur News- The Medical Council of Guyana is scheduled to meet today, to decide on the application made by Trinidadian pathologist, Dr. Hubert Daisley, to practice medicine in Guyana.

The family of 11-year-old Adriana Younge had formally requested an independent review of the footage of the post-mortem examination (PME), which was conducted at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on April 28. The family had written the medical council seeking permission for Dr. Daisley, a renowned forensic pathologist, to participate in the process.

“My understanding is that an application was made to the medical board for Mr. Daisley to be accepted to examine, or to practice medicine, whether for that limited period or not, or to be able to review the body,” family lawyer, Dr. Dexter Todd, told Kaieteur News Friday.

“We’ve heard that the medical board will meet on the 12th of May. When that happens, we hope that Dr. Daisley, as he has done in the past, will be given the requisite permission to review the body,” Dr. Todd stated.

He said if permission is not granted, the family will consider alternative options, including flying the body out of Guyana for examination by two U.S. based pathologists.

“If there are any difficulties presented, where they are not given the requisite permission to review this body on behalf of the family… because this is what the family wants… the family will consider their support to have the body flown out,” Dr. Todd added.

Dr Todd made it clear that before a second autopsy could be conducted, a review of the footage of the first autopsy will be done. He explained that Dr. Daisely, along with other pathologists from the Caribbean and United States will first meet on Zoom to review the footage. “They would like to be able to be present on Zoom and walk through the process with him. So, they are looking at what was done, because they may not need to do back everything, a complete dissection.   They may not need to,” Dr. Todd said.

He added, “But they will say what is it that they need to check for, because there are some specific things in relation to how the body floated. In relation to how the body was presented, and in relation to the marks that remain on certain parts of the body, which has raised concerns to them, and that they are seeing, it requires a second eye, to be sure, and that is what they are looking at. So, they will see.”

Adriana’s lifeless body was discovered on April 24, by her father, Subryan Younge, in the swimming pool of the popular Double Day hotel, at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, some 20 hours after she was reported missing during a family swimming trip there.

The fist post-mortem examination concluded that Adriana died by drowning. Pathologists could not determine the time of death, and a toxicology report is still pending. The PME was conducted by government-appointed Barbadian pathologist Dr. Shubhakar Karra Paul. Adriana’s family had also requested Dr. Gary L. Collins, Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Delaware, to observe the autopsy. Dr. Glenn A. Rudner of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, also observed the autopsy.

Adriana’s mother, Amecia Simon, had previously expressed hope that Dr. Daisley would be able to offer insight into her daughter’s death by reviewing the PME footage.

“I hope so,” she said when asked by Kaieteur News whether she wanted the Trinidadian pathologist to review the autopsy.

Last Tuesday, some two weeks after the PME, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) released what they said were some preliminary findings.

The police in a seven-point statement highlighted the following:

1. There was no evidence of sexual assault (her external genitalia were examined and found unremarkable with her hymen intact);
2. Her soft tissues as well as skeletal structure were free of traumatic injury;
3. There was a residual cone of foam identified within her nostrils and oral cavity, which is often observed in cases of drowning (this finding dispels any contention that there was cotton wool in her nose);
4. The skin changes observed were from prolonged immersion with ‘washerwoman’ changes noted on bilateral hands and soles (washerwoman changes are also consistent in cases of drowning);
5. The skin was found to be intact and free from antemortem injuries; (Meaning that she did not receive any injuries to her body prior to her death);
6. The sphenoid sinus was found to have approximately 1ml of liquid (this is the air space located in the brain consistent with drowning);
7. Liquid also found in the lungs of the deceased, which is consistent with drowning.

The GPF reminded that a comprehensive toxicological study of the blood and gastric contents is being conducted by the National Medical Services (NMS) Laboratories in the United States. Additionally, tissue specimens are undergoing histological analysis by Mount Sinai’s board-certified forensic and diagnostic pathologists in the United States, according to Police.

 

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• Adriana Younge, Dr. Hubert Daisley, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, Kaieteur News, medical board

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