Navi Mumbai: Probe ordered into teen's death at COVID-19 centre

Picture/Anurag Kamble

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) ordered a probe into the alleged medical negligence after the death of a 13-year-old boy at dedicated COVID health centre (DCHC). The boy, who was suffering from breathlessness and had oxygen saturation level of 60 per cent, was sent back from the DCHC after testing negative in the antigen test.

Navi Mumbai municipal commissioner Abhijeet Bangar has set up an expert panel to probe if there was any medical negligence.

On August 6, the boy's father had taken him to Indira Nagar's (Turbhe) Urban Health Centre (UHC) where the doctors referred him to NMMC's general hospital that has been converted into a DCHC in Vashi.

DCHC doctors noted breathlessness and oxygen saturation level of 60 per cent (anything below 95 per cent is considered unhealthy). Later, the child was tested for COVID-19 with an antigen test but the result was negative.

The family was asked to go to another hospital as the boy tested negative but since they are from a low-income group, the family went home. When the Indira Nagar UHC's doctor called the father to get an update, they were shocked to know that the DCHC asked them to go to some other hospital. They told the family to take the boy to the hospital immediately and questioned officials and doctors at DCHC.

Allegations of suppression

The boy was again taken to DCHC in the evening, however, he succumbed within an hour of admission. An RT-PCR test conducted posthumously came out negative. The incident was also allegedly suppressed and not reported to Bangar during the daily update via video conferencing.

Meanwhile, a doctor from the Indira Nagar UHC contacted Bangar and narrated the incident, which led to the probe.

Civic chief Bangar told mid-day, "This is tragic and unfortunate and also unprofessional. We have initiated an enquiry and a committee of experts had been set up. No one will be spared for such negligence. Instructions about antigen and RT-PCR tests are very clear that if an antigen test is negative and a patient has symptoms, she/he should be treated as a COVID-19 patient."

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