After the tragic death of a three-year-old boy following a kidney operation at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children (LRH), the hospital administration has stated their intention to pursue legal action against the doctor who performed the surgery. The decision comes in the wake of ongoing investigations conducted at both the hospital and ministerial levels to ascertain the circumstances that led to the boy’s untimely demise.
When contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday (31), LRH Director Dr. G. Wijesuriya said that an investigation into the said incident is to be launched as several parties have complained with regard to the incident and since it has gone viral on social media platforms.
Furthermore, it is reported that the doctor in question had left the country, and when queried as to whether the LRH administration was informed about the doctor’s departure, Dr. Wijesuriya said that, as per the information he had received, the said doctor had applied for a visa prior to this particular incident and that therefore, he is unable to make assumptions on the matter until the relevant inquiries are concluded. Wijesuriya also said that the doctor is not recruited under the Department of Health but is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo.
However, the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) on 30 July urged health authorities to conduct an immediate impartial investigation into the incident. GMOA Media Spokesman Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe told the media that it is unfair for both parties, namely the victims and medical officers, to draw early conclusions on the incident without comprehensive analysis.
Meanwhile, the parents of the deceased child have accused the doctors of negligence, who identified that the child had developed acute kidney disease and thus advised the removal of the left kidney. Nevertheless, the child’s parents claim that the doctors later informed them that the healthy right kidney was also removed during the procedure.
Moreover, it is reported that the child, without any functioning kidneys, required haemodialysis until a suitable kidney could be transplanted. Thereafter, the child passed away after contracting a harmful germ. The deceased child, a resident of the Kotahena area, was receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit of the LRH and died on 28 July.
