DMCH missed a golden chance
TDS (Dec. 6, 2014) reported the case of an unknown woman, who literally came back from the dead three hours after being declared “dead” by a DMCH doctor on December 4. The patient, with no one to care for her, then struggled to survive and died a second (?) and final time 26 hours later. The fact that the attending doctor had not done an ECG test but relied on “no heartbeat, physical movement and blood pressure” is of little significance to me. It is an apparent attempt to find a scapegoat. To me, it is more important to know what DMCH did or failed to do after the so-called dead patient showed signs of life.
I asked an associate professor of BSMMU whether it is a standard procedure at public hospitals of Bangladesh to carry out ECG test to confirm the death of a patient. Her answer was in the negative. She stated that pupils become dilated and fixed after death and is a more practical and simple method to confirm death.
“She did not receive any lab test because of her not having an attendant who usually arranges a test.” What a pitiable statement to make on behalf of DMCH. It lays bare the pathetic condition at DMCH for collection of samples and dispatching these to the lab.
“We suggested some tests on her on that night,” said the doctors of the ward. Brilliant. End of their duty. Is there something called Hippocratic oath to serve the sick (“I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, ………”?)
As expected, DMCH authorities formed a 4-member committee to investigate the incident and report within three working days. I was waiting with bated breath to know their findings. But as is common in Bangladesh, the next accident (Sundarban oil spill) is now hogging the headlines and the DMCH incident has fallen off the media radar.
To my understanding, what was missing in the DMCH case was a lack of scientific inquisitiveness, a lack of compassion, a lack of urgency to see that things do not go from bad to worse. What a wonderful story it would have been for the DMCH if the patient had survived.
I doubt whether DMCH has an emergency fund or emergency insurance to cover the costs of looking after the poor.
I hope that a thorough investigation will be made and actions taken so that DMCH and similar public health care providers do not in future miss an opportunity to show that they do care for their patients, particularly the poor.
The writer is a former BAEC and IAEA official.
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