Boy dies during treatment at Tirunelveli govt. hospital; family allege medical negligence

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| Photo Credit: A. Shaikmohideen

The family of a four-year-old boy, who died during a treatment for a lump at the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TVMCH), staged a protest on Thursday (February 13, 2025) on the facility’s premises accusing the hospital of medical negligence. The TVMCH authorities, however, denied the allegation, saying the cause of death could only be determined after an ongoing internal inquiry and the postmortem report.

The father of the deceased V. Mahendran alleged his son M. Ponmaran was administered an injection by a technician of the radiology department, prior to a CT scan for the lump on his neck on Wednesday (February 12, 2025).

“Though he was energetic when he was admitted to the hospital, he collapsed after the injection before the CT scan,” Mr. Mahendran alleged. He further alleged that though his son passed away on Wednesday morning, the doctors informed the family about the death only that night.

‘Right line of treatment given’

The boy’s family, relatives, and members of a caste outfit staged a dharna on the hospital premises on Thursday. The hospital authorities, however, said the doctors who gave the “right line of treatment” to the boy, who was suspected to have cancer, took every effort to save his life.

“The boy was admitted to TVMCH for treatment for a lump, and the samples were sent for biopsy as the doctors suspected it could be cancer. We have formed a team of doctors to probe the allegations to bring out the truth,” said C. Revathi Balan, dean, TVMCH.

She also said the boy did not collapse when the injection was administered. “When the investigation was going on, the patient had breathing trouble and was rushed to the paediatric intensive care unit where the right line of treatment was given under the monitoring of a neurologist, cardiac physician, and anaesthetist. However, he had a cardiac arrest in the night around 9:10 p.m.,” said Dr. Revathi.