Stuck seed sprouts into lawsuit over child’s death

Stuck seed sprouts into lawsuit over child’s death

Failure to spot throat obstruction led to untimely demise of toddler

The parents of a child who died because doctors failed to remove a seed lodged in her throat. The distraught couple filed a case with the Ministry of Public Health at the Damrongtham Centre. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)
The parents of a child who died because doctors failed to remove a seed lodged in her throat. The distraught couple filed a case with the Ministry of Public Health at the Damrongtham Centre. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)

The parents of a two-year-old girl who died after doctors failed to detect and remove a tamarind seed that was stuck in her throat for two days are threatening to sue a hospital in Nonthaburi for negligence and malpractice, as they believe the hospital's failure directly contributed to their daughter's death.

The girl's father, Prasit Duangmalai -- accompanied by the well-known lawyer and human rights activist, Ronnarong Kaewphet -- recently filed a report at the Damrongtham complaint centre to demand the Ministry of Public Health look into the matter.

"The death of my daughter could have been prevented. How did a tamarind seed in her throat go undetected for two days? The hospital should have done better," Mr Prasit said.

Mr Prasit, a construction worker, said his wife took their daughter to Pranangklao hospital on March 10 after she noticed that their daughter had breathing problems after swallowing a tamarind seed at home.

Mr Prasit said his wife told doctors that there might be something stuck in his daughter's throat -- however, an X-ray image of the girl's neck and chest didn't show anything suspicious. Therefore, doctors assumed that whatever was stuck in her throat had been dislodged, and told his wife that his daughter could go home.

"When I arrived at the hospital, my daughter could still run and play, but she complained about shortness of breath and I could hear a high-pitched wheezing sound whenever she took a deep breath, so I asked the hospital to admit her," he said.

Mr Prasit said his daughter stopped breathing the morning after she was admitted to the hospital. Hospital nurses performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation to restore her breathing, and a doctor came 20 minutes later to perform a CT scan, which clearly showed a tamarind seed stuck in her trachea, he said.

"The doctor then said my daughter needed an operation, but the hospital did not have the equipment, so he wanted to transfer my daughter to another hospital, but it was too late," Mr Prasit said.

Mr Prasit said her daughter's death could have been prevented if the tamarind seed was discovered earlier. "The hospital and doctors must take responsibility, and I may file a malpractice lawsuit against them," he said.

Mr Ronnarong, the lawyer, said he was asked by the parents to seek justice for their daughter. However, it was unclear whether there are enough grounds to file a medical malpractice suit as he has not received enough information from the hospital yet.

"When she was first brought to the hospital, she didn't show any signs of problems, which was corroborated by the X-ray image, which found no alien object in her throat," said Dr Sakol Sukphrom, deputy director of Pranangklao Hospital.

The girl was admitted to hospital for the night and doctors agreed to treat her. Doctors were preparing to extract the seed. But the next day at 2pm when the doctors started performing the operation they realised they did not have the necessary equipment. So they decided to transfer the girl to Siriraj Hospital.

"We offered to transfer their daughter to Siriraj Hospital at 11pm," Dr Sakol said. "We explained the transfer process has its own risks, and her parents decided against it."

Doctors at Pranangklao Hospital did what they could to treat the girl, but by 3.40am last Tuesday, her condition quickly deteriorated and she died soon after.

Sukhum Kanjanapimai, permanent secretary for the Public Health Ministry, said although Pranangklao is a big hospital, it still lacks some equipment. The ministry will look further into the case.

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