Editorial
Deaths during diagnostic test or treatment
There should be proper enquiry to find out the truth
Death of a woman while undergoing diagnostic test at a private clinic at the Dhanmondi area of the city has again raised the disconcerting question of safety standards in our hospitals. The mayhem that the unexpected death of the woman set off among her relatives leading to vandalisation of two clinics in the area and beating up of doctors was, however, an undesirable sequel to that tragedy. But there is also little room here to make light of the attending doctors' responsibility to come up with a satisfactory explanation for the unwarranted death.
Death of a patient during the course of treatment is not quite an unlikely eventuality. In fact, relatives of such victims often accept it as a stroke of bad luck unless of course something untoward happened about it.
Why did the woman in question die after application of part of the drug in the ampoule through injection, while another person easily passed the test without any fatal consequence? If that drug had any potential for adverse reaction or side effect among certain groups of patients, should not the attending doctor have carried out a sensitivity test on the patient in question before applying the injection in the first place? However, the hospital authority is yet to inform us if any such routine procedure was followed.
In the newspaper reports, however, we have somewhat conflicting versions of the tragedy and its aftermath. What keeps one worrying is why had the doctors of the private hospital where the woman was brought to undergo fertility test and which is known to be a very modern and well-equipped hospital, sent the patient to a second hospital instead of treating her themselves once the patient's condition turned critical after application of an injection? Whatever might have been the reason, the hospital authority is yet to supply us with a satisfactory answer.
We are however against any knee-jerk or mindless reaction from the relatives or well-wishers of a person meeting with any kind of fatality during treatment or test, since there are the laws and the law-enforcers to look after such eventualities. At the same time, the hospital authorities need also to be clear and transparent about any untoward fatality during the course of treatment so that it may not create unnecessary suspicion in public mind.
We cannot be forgetful here of the fact that, of late, instances of fatality have occurred in another private clinic in the city under questionable circumstances leading to arrest of doctors and police investigation into it. So, to reassure the public, the government should carry out a proper investigation into the case to find out what really happened during the test in the private clinic concerned.
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