LONGGANG Central Hospital was recently accused of being responsible for a child’s death. The hospital was questioned about its use of medication, medical practices and the diagnosis of the 15-month-old toddler made by the doctors, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

    In response, the hospital said that the toddler had died of multiple organ failure (MOF) as a result of his physical condition. A third-party investigation will be conducted if the family disagrees with the hospital, said the hospital.

    The father, surnamed Huang, took his son to the hospital Feb. 2 for the boy’s fever. The child was diagnosed with pneumonia and hospitalized.

    According to Huang, his son’s status was good for the first two days, but the boy started vomiting and suffering from diarrhea after the medical staff changed his medication on the second night. A doctor transferred the boy to a supervised ward for an injection for his fever.

    Things spun out of control on the third afternoon, when Huang found that his son had developed a sniffle in his throat as if he had been crying. One of the doctors said that it was “not a big issue” and told them to raise the patient’s pillow so he could breathe better. A few hours later, the child was still choking. The child was sent to a special ward for rescue treatment, but the suction catheter did not work, which delayed the rescue by almost 10 minutes.

    Huang asked the hospital if his son needed to be transferred to a larger hospital and was told that the transfer might be risky as there were only simple respirators in an ambulance. However, the hospital decided to transfer the kid the next morning.

    The father let his son stay at the Longgang hospital because he did not sense that the doctors were confident that transferring the child was the right decision. The child passed away Sunday.

    The two parties have sealed the kid’s medical records, and a third-party institution will investigate the case. (Zhang Qian)