Parents blame doctor for death of thalassaemic kids in Jaipur

Parents of thalassaemic kids, who reportedly died after undergoing partially-matched (haploidentical) bone marrow transplant (BMT) at the Soni Manipal Hospital in Jaipur, have alleged that the doctor at the hospital kept them in the dark on the treatment. 

They also blamed the government orders for a probe as a hogwash. The probe was initiated after instructions from the Union government. The doctor and the hospital, on the other hand, refuted the charges.

The matter is related to the death of 22 children at the hospital of which 14 were thalassaemia patients, and died after undergoing haploidentical BMT. They are alleging that doctor Satyendra Katewa, HoD, paediatric hemato-oncology and BMT made them spend on a treatment without disclosing the high mortality risk.

“My nephew, Krishna Agrawal, a 16-year-old died in December 2017, 15 months after the procedure at Hospital,” Anil Agrawal who belongs to Patna said. “The doctor misled us, saying the procedure had 90-95 per cent success,” he added. 

Some of the parents complained to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Union health minister and the Medical Council of India. The state government constituted a 3-member committee to probe the matter but parents allege it is an eyewash. “The committee has now power to probe,” Brajesh Verma, lawyer of parents told DNA. In a reply to an RTI, SMS medical college also said it is not empowered to probe the charges.