Parents blame hospital for 14-year-old’s death
Eight hours after a 14-year-old girl was admitted into a private hospital in Petaling Jaya on November 16 with a fever, she was pronounced brain-dead by the hospital.
Form Two student Tinasha Ganesan Rao of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Assunta died at 11.40am this morning, minutes after her parents and relatives gave a press conference during which they accused the hospital of negligence.
They lodged a report at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters this morning.
"I took Tinasha to the hospital on Sunday night at 8.30pm because she had a fever," said her mother, Uthayabavani Inthirarasa, 46.
"She was examined by a physician at the emergency ward, who recommended that Tinasha be warded. We had to wait until 11.30pm for a room."
After being warded, Tinasha seemed slightly better as her fever had subsided. But around midnight, she complained of a headache.
"She was given a tablet to swallow for her headache but things took a turn for the worse at 1am when she said she felt nauseous.
"After helping her as she vomited, I called the nurse and told her what happened. Tinasha was then given medication for her nausea," Uthayabavani told the press conference which was held at the office of Bukit Gasing state assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran.
Uthayabavani said after taking the medication, Tinasha wanted to throw up again but could not as she was very tired.
"I still recall her last words to me, 'Ama, I want to vomit but my body is very tired'," Uthayabavani said, adding that Tinasha could not even sit up to vomit.
She said after Tinasha had vomited a second time, her eyes suddenly stopped moving. They remained focused on one spot and she did not respond when her mother called her name.
“I called her name many times but she did not answer or respond. I called for the nurse and the medical officer to examine her,” said Uthayabavani.
"In spite of my concerns, all the medical officer said was that Tinasha would be better tomorrow morning. I asked him whether this was a normal reaction."
After a while, Uthayabavani said Tinasha began moving her hands and legs in a restless manner, prompting her to call the nurse and medical officer again.
"Their solution? To give Tinasha a sedative or something to help her relax, that was what they told me," Uthayabavani said.
Although she initially refused the sedative, Uthayabavani eventually relented as Tinasha was getting more and more restless.
About 15 minutes after the sedative was administered, Tinasha suffered a bout of fits and was given another shot of sedative.
"The medical officer kept telling me to relax as Tinasha would be fine by tomorrow," Uthayabavani said.
Uthayabavani's brother, Ramesh Inthirarasa, said he arrived at the hospital at 5.30am and immediately asked for a specialist, but the hospital insisted that Tinasha would be all right.
"Then Tinasha's oxygen levels dropped alarmingly, and she suffered a cardiac arrest," Ramesh said.
He said Tinasha was then taken to the Intensive Care Unit where they met the physician who had examined her on Sunday night.
"We asked the physician what happened and it was hard to tell who was more shocked, us or the physician," he said.
"The physician, who is also a specialist, told us that she was not aware of what medications had been prescribed to Tinasha, nor had her feedback been sought.
"What kind of communication is going on in the hospital? The specialist is not consulted and the nurse and medical officer appear to know better."
Ramesh said Tinasha underwent an x-ray which showed one side of her lungs had collapsed.
Tinasha needed to be put on a life support machine, and Ramesh said the hospital even advised them to pull the plug.
"Officially on Monday at 3.30pm, she was declared brain-dead, hence we were told to do the merciful thing and pull the plug," he said.
Uthayabavani's sister, Suthashini, 39, who was weeping while Ramesh spoke, said someone should be held responsible for Tinasha's death.
"This is pure negligence by the hospital. Everything was done in-house, even the specialist was recommended by them," Suthashini said.
She said Tinasha had always been a fighter, surviving surgery at the age of seven to remove a tumour from her brain.
Tinasha's family called for an independent panel to be formed to probe the hospital's standard operating procedure and whether there was any sign of malpractice or negligence. – November 21, 2014.
