…information from hospital probe expected this week
…autopsy on six-year-old Mendonca undetermined

MINISTER of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, has highlighted that an “all-round” investigation is being conducted into the recent deaths of three children, who were being treated for leukemia, at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Seven-year-old Curwayne Edwards succumbed on January 14; Roshani Seegobin, three, died on January 18 and Sharezer Mendonca, six, passed away on January 24. The trio succumbed after an alleged adverse reaction to medication, which was administered to them as part of the treatment for leukemia.

“The matter which we address today of little Curwayne, Sharezer and Roshani is not an easy one. It’s not an easy one for the families, especially the parents; the doctors and staff of the GPHC and also the management,” Minister Lawrence said on Monday.

Though it is not an easy matter to deal with, the minister assured that her ministry, alongside the GPHC, was working assiduously to ensure that the matter was dealt with, in an “open and transparent way,” and a conclusion arrived at soonest.

“What I do ask is to allow due process to take its course,” she said. She added that the investigation into the deaths of the children was being approached from many angles.

After the first two deaths, the GPHC confirmed that an investigation had been launched. Following those two unfortunate deaths, Lawrence was informed that there was another patient, who was administered the same medication, and the medical staff of the GPHC was monitoring that patient. This patient was Sharezer Mendonca, who later succumbed.

As a result of the unfortunate occurrences, the minister further related that she wrote to the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) representative in Guyana, to ask for technical assistance with the investigation.

This, according to her, was an effort, not only to provide technical assistance to the hospital but also to enhance the transparency of the investigation by ensuring that personnel “outside of the system” are involved.

Chairperson of the GPHC board, Kesaundra Alves, also shared, yesterday (Monday,January 28), that the investigation was being spearheaded by the hospital’s Director of Medical and Professional Services, Dr. Fawcett Jeffrey.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Brigadier (ret’d) George Lewis, indicated that the team involved in the investigation also comprises the support personnel from PAHO, and members from the paediatrics department. Aso, the GPHC’s Deputy CEO, Elizabeth Gonsalves, who was also a qualified nursing professional, was “looking into the nursing aspect” of the investigation, according to the CEO.

“When this information came to the board, we were terribly moved by it; this is a major tragedy,” Alves said and later added: “The first thing we did was ensure that the administration had launched an investigation which is ongoing at the moment.”

According to Alves, the board is expecting feedback from the Director by Tuesday, January 29. Such will determine the way forward.

“We too want the truth at the highest level and if something goes wrong we will let the public know because it is also important that we protect our future patients,” she said.

Further she affirmed: “We commit to full transparency and this week we should get some word on the way forward. As soon as we get that information the families will be the first to know.”

Minister Lawrence also related that, within the Public Health Ministry, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, had put together a team that would be looking at the drugs administered during the period the patients were in the care of the GPHC.

“This is to ensure that we have an all-round approach to what transpired with these patients. We believe that having a report from the drugs administered will be able to give clarity in that aspect of the services provided – while we look at the human aspect from the hospital perspective,” the minister noted.

INCONCLUSIVE AUTOPSY

On Monday, also, a second autopsy was performed on six-year-old Sharezer Mendonca, as requested by her family.

The results of this autopsy, which was observed by an independent pathologist Mendonca’s family sourced from Trinidad and Tobago, proved inconclusive, according to aunt of Mendonca, Azeena Bakraj. Organ samples have however been taken for further testing.

“The fact that the post-mortem was inconclusive means that there is need for further examination and I think that is why the Trinidadian pathologist would’ve [taken the samples for testing],” Lewis said.

However, he posited that the tests would definitively determine the cause of death which was information that the hospital, the relatives and the nation would like to know.

Lewis highlighted that it was the right of relatives to demand a post-mortem examination and to ensure that anyone who they feel comfortable with – as in this case, the independent pathologist – would be present.

“It lends to the whole process of transparency and it shows that the hospital’s administration has nothing to hide,” he said.

However, on Friday, January 25, 2019, the first autopsy was performed on Mendonca, though her family, through their attorneys, requested that it be postponed until an independent pathologist could be brought in from Trinidad and Tobago to observe the process.

Another young child, Delicia Wailoo, from Bartica, was scheduled for an autopsy that day. However, an autopsy was instead performed on Mendonca’s body, as the bodies of the young children were ‘mixed up’.

Lewis pointed out that it was the family of Wailoo that identified Mendonca’s body as the body of Wailoo.

“The GPHC has a procedure which indicates that a post-mortem should only be done once there is positive identification of the bodies,” the CEO said and added: “The body was positively identified and when questioned, Dr. Nehaul Singh (the hospital’s pathologist) would have performed the autopsy.”

On Monday, Delicia’s mother, Donna Atkinson, spoke to the News Room and disputed the hospital’s claims. The woman told the news outlet that she had identified young Wailoo by a mark on the side of her mouth, and was also confused that the post mortem was done on Sharezer instead.

Minister Lawrence and members of the board of the hospital have met with two of the three families of the deceased so far, and are expecting to meet with the third family soon. The personnel have all sought to express their sincerest condolences.

“As part of the administration of the GPHC, I’d like to say that this is an incident which should never have happened,” Lewis underscored.

While he acknowledged that it was a grave issue, he also shared that consideration must be given to the healthcare professionals who were involved in treating the children and the trauma they too were experiencing.

“They are traumatised and we must always remember that healthcare professionals are there to help people; to try to make them better, and they never set out to, in any way, harm the patients. The fact that this has happened while they were attempting to help the patients’ to make them better, they are deeply traumatised,” he said.

Further, he stressed: “We continue to examine our systems, our protocols, our standing operation procedures to determine exactly why this occurred and to ensure that we do whatsoever is necessary to prevent a recurrence in the future.”