Injected with 'wrong medicine': Nurse suspended after child’s death at Suhrawardy hospital

The authorities of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital today suspended a nurse after a seven-year-old girl died yesterday, allegedly after being injected with the wrong medicine.

Mohammed Shehab Uddin, director of the hospital, said senior staff nurse Yasin has already been suspended, and a seven-member committee headed by the chief of the paediatrics department has been formed to probe the incident.

The committee has been asked to submit its report within five working days, he said, adding, “We have also written to the DGHS (Directorate General of Health Services) to take necessary steps in this regard.”

Talking to The Daily Star today, the director said the child from Rajbari was admitted to the hospital for surgery on her hand, and the surgery was supposed to be carried out yesterday (Tuesday) morning.

“But she died before the operation,” he said.

Talking to reporters, Jerina Begum, mother of Umme Habiba from Rajbari Sadar, said Habiba developed a problem in her hand after she was electrocuted at the age of three. They came to the hospital on January 17 for an operation on her daughter’s hand. The operation was scheduled to be held at 10:00am yesterday.

The nurse administered an injection to Habiba in the morning, which she described as anaesthesia, and the child became unconscious within ten minutes and ultimately died.

Moniruzzaman Monir, officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, said they handed over the body to the child’s family without conducting an autopsy, following a written application from them.