Investigation Launched into 14-Month-Old's Mysterious Death in Daltonganj: Doctor Under Scrutiny

Daltonganj: The town police have begun an investigation into the death of a 14-month-old male child, Arman, after being treated at the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a reputed private hospital here on Nov 5.The father of the deceased, Akhtar Alam, has complained against child specialist Dr A K Pathak, holding him responsible for the child’s death.On Friday, Jyoti Lal Rajwar, the officer in charge of the town police, said, “We have begun a probe into the case. However, the child didn’t die in the clinic of the child specialist concerned.”Rajwar said Alam suspected an overdose of a medicine given during treatment proved fatal for the child.As per the Supreme Court, police are free to lodge an FIR against a doctor only if there is proof of the doctor's fault. However, the town police have yet to register the complaint as an FIR.Sadar SDPO Mani Bhushan Prasad said they were investigating every aspect of the case.Meanwhile, the child specialist, Dr Pathak, said the deceased child was brought to him on the morning of November 5 in a severely dehydrated condition.

“Seeing the child’s critical situation, I asked his father to get him admitted to a reputed private hospital without any delay. The father was reluctant to go to the hospital and insistent on keeping the patient in my clinic, which I refused in the larger interest of the patient,” Dr Pathak said.The private hospital sources said the child was admitted on the recommendation of Dr Pathak. “His treatment started immediately, but he expired after a few hours of intensive care,” a hospital staff member said.Later, the post-mortem of the body was conducted at MMCH under the supervision of a medical board in the presence of a magistrate.