Dear Editor,
I DO not know the facts of what transpired, but what I do know is that two beautiful children, three-year-old Roshnie Seegobin and Corwin Edwards are now dead.
A third beautiful angel, six-year-old Sherezer Mendonca, is fighting for her life in the Intensive Care Unit. Mr. Editor, my heart bleeds for their parents; no parent should ever have to bury his/her child; no parent ever anticipates burying his/her child. The GPHC has problems, serious problems. These problems are not new. I have been saying this for years. The PPP had 23 years to address them, but turned a blind eye and instead politicised the GPHC and the wider health service. I read Dr. Leslie Ramsammy’s letters in both the Kaieteur News and Stabroek News, chastising the government as if this is new. I suggest they both be balanced for a change and publish my opposing but more rational letter.

Anyway, this is disingenuous of Dr. Ramsammy and is another desperate attempt to score cheap political points off this tragedy and many other issues affecting the healthcare system. Reading Dr. Ramsammy’s missive, one would get the impression that under the PPP, the GPHC was world class, comparable to the Mayo Clinic in America. It was of such high standards that all ministers under the PPP utilised the local health service. Jagdeo’s medical jet sat idly at the CJIA since he too utilised the local health service for his diarrhoea — among other ailments. Dr. Ramsammy abandoned paying his health insurance in America, since it became redundant in view of the first-class health services in Guyana which he also utilised. What Dr. Ramsammy is in effect suggesting is that the coalition government, in three and a half years, destroyed PPP’s good work. Are you serious Dr. Ramsammy? Clearly you are having severe hiccups. Go have a sip of water.

I will repeat: this problem is not new and the PPP should shoulder most of the blame for their inaction, politicisation and corruption of the health service over 23 years. This government is not blame-free, but it will take more than four years to reverse 23 years of mismanagement. I would humbly suggest they heed my many suggestions of focusing on the simple and leaving the complex until the health service is fully prepared and ready for the complex.

Rather than his desperate attempts at scoring cheap political points, Dr. Ramsammy should have suggested what he would have done differently if he were at the helm. Frankly, I don’t think he knows, judging from the many unanswered disasters in the health service under his watch. Clearly, he would have been better off remaining in a darkened lab looking at bacteria. Anyway, don’t despair folks, someone young enough to be his son but clearly more qualified and competent than him will show him what he should have written. Sit back and take notes, failed former minister of health.

An adverse drug reaction apparently occurred. The name of the drug is being kept a secret. The reason this drug is being kept a secret is unknown, but clearly illogical. The name of all drug-adverse reactions should be immediately made public. That is international standards and it is there for a good reason. To inform other hospitals to avoid the drug until such time as the reason behind the adverse reaction is identified. Keeping the name of the drug a secret, especially when two children have died, can lead to the death of others at other institutions that were not forewarned.

Just think of it like this: a Boeing 747 develops engine problems in Afghanistan and crashed, killing 300 passengers. Would that be kept a secret? NO. It will be disseminated worldwide and likely all Boeing 747s would be grounded until investigators have established that the problem is not intrinsic to all Boeing 747s. Only last week in Guyana, all Cessna planes were grounded because of engine concerns. The same principle applies in medicine. Get it Dr. Ramsammy? Rise above politics and think like a doctor who is a specialist worth his salt. You might have scored points if you had done what I did and suggest how the PPP would have gone about it. Suggesting that the minister of public health turn up and give a speech is at best ridiculous. The problems need solutions and not speeches. Anyway, continue taking notes.

Then the GPHC is investigating the deaths. That’s commendable, but not enough. The government should also have an independent body investigating serious adverse drug reactions, serious adverse reactions on medical devices, defective medicines and fake medicines and devices. As a matter of fact, this independent body should have been set up during the PPP’s 23 years of managing the health service. Why this never happened Dr. Ramsammy, the doctor of bacteria with all the “solutions”? The data collected should be reported to the companies producing the medicines and the devices with a view to the company disseminating the information worldwide. In the UK, we have the electronic yellow card scheme of reporting such clinical incidents, which are investigated and disseminated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The manufacturer or a medical specialist may also investigate the problem, depending on how serious it is, then report to MHRA. I am sure there are similar processes in America, but Dr. Ramsammy would not know that since he is not a medical doctor. Continuing my distance education for Dr. Ramsammy, definitely all deaths apparently due to drugs or medical devices would be investigated by the MHRA. An investigation is not to apportion blame, but to learn from mistakes which will be disseminated with a view to inform future practice and reduce the risk of it happening again. Got it Dr. Ramsammy? Trying to politicise tragedies and score cheap points have backfired. Your limitations have shown up. You were better off standing up and accepting responsibility for 23 years of the PPP’s failed policies in the health service. Now you have taken notes you should go stand in a corner and face the wall. Leave criticism of the health service for those who know what they are about, those without blood on their hands; but most importantly those who genuinely want to see better and are not using the health service as a political football. And yes, you will receive your certificate in the post.

Finally, for the two angels that are now sleeping, RIP. To their parents, no one can feel your pains. We can only sympathise. Do not let your children’s deaths be in vain. Start a charity in their names. Start a campaign. Do something in their names. Doing that may help in the healing process, which may be indefinite. For the little angel in intensive care, I pray you have a speedy and a complete recovery.

Regards
Dr. Mark Devonish MBBS MSc MRCP(UK) FRCP(Edin)
Consultant, Acute Medicine
Nottingham University Hospital
UK