13-year-old dies in Jalandhar hospital; kin alleged negligence

The boy was admitted to the hospital on March 1 with fever and vomiting; he was stable for two days before a sudden deterioration in his condition on Tuesday led to death.

Jalandhar Hours after a 13-year-old boy, Arjun, of Makhdoompura Mohalla, died at the Doaba Hospital in the city on Tuesday night, parents and family members accused the hospital of medical negligence.

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The boy was admitted to the hospital on March 1 with fever and vomiting; he was stable for two days before a sudden deterioration in his condition on Tuesday led to death. “Doctors gave him a wrong injection on March 3 and the staff was in an inebriated condition when this happened,” alleged Krishna, the father of Arjun. During their protest on Wednesday, the family members also tried to block the road, but were pacified when ACP Harbinder Singh reached the spot with his team. He assured the protesters of a fair inquiry into the case. Police have seized the record pertaining to the treatment of the child and said a medical board will conduct the post-mortem.

Ashutosh Gupta, the owner of the hospital, and the doctor dealing with the case, said, “There has been no negligence on my part and at the hospital. The charges of being drunk are baseless. The kid was suffering from a viral fever that got out of control. There was no medical negligence.”