KARACHI: An eight-year-old girl died after she was administered a ‘wrong’ injection at a private clinic in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, police said on Sunday.

Gulshan SP Shahnawaz told Dawn that the injection was given by one ‘Dr’ Adnan. He said that he appeared to be a quack and was taken into custody.

He said that the family of Saba Noor and the held suspect told the police she was being treated for ‘pneumonia’ at ‘Adnan Clinic’ in Gulshan 13-D.

A man alleges that his three-month-old son died owing to doctors’ negligence

Her father, Zafar Iqbal, took her to the clinic on Saturday night where she was administered an injection after which her condition deteriorated.

On the advice of the doctor, the family took the girl to the nearby Al-Mustafa Medical Centre, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

The SP said that it appeared to be a case of medical negligence but the exact cause of death would be determined after a post-mortem examination.

He said the girl’s family claimed that she was not ‘serious’ when brought to the clinic.

The officer said that the held suspect did not appear to be a qualified MBBS doctor.

On Sunday evening, the Gulshan police registered a case against the held suspect under Sections 319 (punishment for qatl-i-khata) and 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Investigation Officer Akram Qureshi claimed that the held suspect was a quack.

Meanwhile, the girl’s father, who originally hailed from Rahim Yar Khan and a rickshaw driver by profession, told the media that she was suffering from cough, flu and chest problem.

He said that the doctor prescribed an injection and some medicines and he bought the injection from a medical store. However, when the doctor administered the injection, her daughter’s condition deteriorated.

He said he had taken her to the Al-Mustafa Medical Centre but when they reached there the doctors declared her dead.

Later, the body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.

Police Surgeon Qarar Ahmed Abbasi said that lady medico-legal officer Dr Zakia Khurshid conducted the autopsy and reserved the cause of death for histopathological and chemical examiner’s report.

He said as per police’s report, the girl died at around 10pm on Saturday and the police were informed later about the incident. The body was brought to the JPMC for autopsy at around 2pm on Sunday after a considerable delay, he said.

Infant dies in Gadap

An infant boy died in the Gadap area on Sunday and his father alleged that he was given “wrong” treatment at one of three hospitals where he was treated since March 30.

Three-month-old Mohammed Hanain died in Haji Arz Mohammed Goth in Gadap, said Saudabad SHO Tayyab Ruk.

He said that initially it was reported that the infant died of alleged wrong treatment at a private hospital in Saudabad. So he met with the deceased’s father, Arshad Jokhio, and other family members, who informed him that the child was suffering from jaundice.

Initially, he was admitted in the ‘Naeem Hospital’ in Malir, from where he was taken to the National Institute of Child Health (NICH). Later, the infant was brought for treatment at the ‘Hasan Hospital’ in Malir-15 and two days ago the father took him to Makli for his treatment by a faith healer.

He said the child died on Sunday and the family also buried him.

Father demands justice

The boy’s father said that his child had been admitted into three different hospitals and on Sunday he was to shift him to the Liaquat National Hospital but he died at home.

Mr Jokhio told Dawn that he had taken his son for treatment at a private hospital in Malir Kala Board where he was allegedly given a high dose of medicine due to which his “brain got damaged”.

He said he then took his son to the NICH where he was allegedly not looked after properly. Later, he brought the baby for treatment at the Hasan Hospital in Malir where he was given blood and his health deteriorated further.

He said that he had taken his son to a ‘Dargah’ in Makli and was supposed to bring him to LNH for further treatment but he died on Sunday.

He demanded that the government order a probe into the alleged negligence to provide him justice.

However, the Saudabad SHO said if the family lodged an FIR the police would look into the matter and the body might be exhumed for an autopsy to ascertain the exact cause of death.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2019