Staff Reporter :
A 16-month old dead baby was kept on life support in Japan-Bangladesh Friendship Hospital at Jigatola in the city on Wednesday.
This was detected by a mobile court while conducting a drive in the hospital.
Accompanied by RAB-2 personnel, the mobile court was led by Executive Magistrate Md Helal Uddin.
In fact, the court conducted the drive as a routine work to check the hygienic condition of the hospital and whether any sub-standard materials were being used in treating patients ignoring compliance guidelines by health ministry.
The court found massive flaws in sensitive areas and fined the hospital Tk11.50 lakh for not fulfilling three major health criteria, including keeping unauthorized drugs and issuing diagnostic reports without any expert’s authorization. But when the team went on the fifth floor of the hospital, a mother approached its members and complained that doctors are holding her baby girl in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital for past few days without really informing her the sate of the health of the baby.
She said she was confused as to what is really happening and whether the doctors are hiding any truth. Dr Mohammad Shahjahan, one of the members of the mobile court said, “She came to us and alleged that the hospital authorities are not giving any clear information. Based on her allegation, we forcibly entered the ICU and found the baby was already dead.”
“For further confirmation, I took the stethoscope and checked the heartbeats of the baby. But she was found to have no heartbeat. Later, I asked the on duty doctor to check it again. The doctor confirmed that she was already dead,” he added.
However, the hospital authorities claimed that they did not notice when the baby died while the mother complained they were holding her in the ICU for long in life support and always telling her she was alive. She was admitted to the hospital on Monday last.
The fact is that many fear the hospital management was trying to keep her in the ICU for longer hours only to realize a hefty medical bill although the baby was already dead. It also confirm that private hospitals and clinics in the city are running business holding dead bodies over longer time and claiming hefty medical bills.
Mother of the girl, Sourabh Binte Islam, told The New Nation “I knocked the doctors several times to know about the latest physical condition of my daughter, suspecting something was wrong.
“But, they were not letting me anything clear. Rather, they took my signature on four papers which did not contain any details of my baby’s health condition.”
When contacted, the CEO of the hospital Dr RM Samiul Hasan refused to make any comment over the issue.
Abdullah Nehal of Panchabati area of Narayangonj admitted her daughter to the hospital on Monday night after she was experiencing breathing problem.
