TRANG: The province's Public Health Office has ordered an investigation into a nurse employed by a private hospital who allegedly injected a sick toddler with adrenaline, worsening his condition.
According to the office's chief physician, Sinchai Rongdech, the office will specifically be looking into the hospital's medication prescribing practices in an effort to determine how the four-year-old boy ended up receiving two milligrammes of intravenous adrenaline.
The boy's plight went viral on social media after a story penned by his mother was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by user @RedSkullxxx on Saturday.
The post said that the boy was sent to the hospital on June 21 after complaining of a fever and cough. He was supposed to stay for a night, but then his condition immediately worsened after he was injected with adrenaline. The boy began vomiting blood and went into shock.
He was sent to Trang Hospital after spending about four hours in the private hospital's emergency room, where doctors attempted to revive him without success. He was then referred to the Southern Centre Hospital, where he stayed in an intensive care unit (ICU) for 12 days.
There, the boy was diagnosed with an adrenaline overdose and a respiratory infection.
Once the boy's condition stabilised, the private hospital admitted to his mother that an error occurred during the prescription process, as his doctor actually prescribed adrenaline spray instead of IV adrenaline.
According to Dr Sinchai, doctors normally prescribe spray adrenaline for fully conscious patients. He noted IV adrenaline is usually only prescribed for patients who are unconscious.
To make matters worse, the hospital said that the nurse in question was actually a part-time nurse, according to the boy's mother.
While the boy's condition has significantly improved, his mother said he still suffers from hemiparesis, or partial weakness to one side of the body.
The family was promised at least 870,000 baht in compensation, but as of Monday, the family has not received anything.
The family is now demanding the maximum compensation allowed by law, as the boy will need at least two years to recover.