Omadai Devi Gossai is worried about the condition of her six-month-old daughter, which she says is worsening after repeated treatment at the New Amsterdam Hospital.
On the last day of March, Gossai took her daughter, Fiona Nowrang, for treatment at the hospital as the child had developed a high fever. However, what she thought was a precautionary step is now a nightmare, she told Stabroek News, while explaining that her daughter developed an abscess and later a painful skin rash after being treated by the hospital’s medical staff.
Gossai is accusing the hospital staff of negligence in their care of the child, although according to Medical Superintendent of the Hospital Dr Vishayla Sharma, no official complaint has been lodged.
When contacted, Sharma said she was only recently informed of the case and the allegations being made by the Nowrang’s parents, but no formal complaint has been made by them. She did, however, add that she has invited them to return to the hospital to make a formal complaint, so an internal investigation could be launched.
She also revealed she is looking into the hospital’s records to confirm whether or not the sequence of events is being accurately related by Gossai.
According to Gossai, on her first visit to the hospital for treatment of the fever, her daughter was given an injection on her buttocks and sent home. The following day, Gossai noticed the injection site was swollen but took it for granted. It was only on the second day (April 2nd) that she realised the injection site had developed into an abscess, which prompted her to take her daughter back to the hospital.
“Me daughter go in the hospital with fever, and look how she end up,” the mother said as she pointed to her daughter’s skin rash; “I thought they would have helped her, but they make things worse.”
Gossai recounted that on her return visit to the hospital, the staff told her nothing was wrong and that the abscess would go away eventually. The mother said two days after her second visit to the hospital, her daughter’s left leg appeared to be blue in colour and, assuming the symptom was connected to the abscess, she rushed her to the hospital again.
Once more, Gossai said, the medical staff were reluctant to admit the baby but after her husband threatened to seek the assistance of rights activist Dr Veerasammy Ramayya, the health officials quickly amended their stance.
The baby was kept in the hospital for four days, during which time her abscess was surgically removed. Gossai said she believed the youngest of her five children was now on the road to recovery, but this turned out to be false hope. A day after the child was discharged, her parents noticed her skin was covered in a thick ‘crust-like’ layer which appeared to be a skin rash. Closer examination revealed that under the layer were boils filled with inflammation. “Oh gawd, like me been wan holla… if you see them boils… and it smell stink like something a burn… how me daughter skin look so scornful!” Gossai said, shuddering as she related her initial reaction to her daughter’s condition. “Me beautiful child, if you see how me daughter been healthy…she skin clear… clear… and look now.”
Taking her daughter to the hospital one last time, Gossai said she was given medication — Calamine Lotion and Neomycin and Bacitracin Zinc Ointment—to rub on the child’s skin and was sent home. However, repeated use of the ointments proved futile, and only the application of a homemade cream of herbs and medicinal leaves seemed to have given the baby relief from her pain.
Gossai is now fearful for her daughter’s life, as the rash is worsening and her daughter’s mobility has already been reduced. She is adamant that it was the treatment received at the hospital that is responsible for her daughter’s condition. “I just can’t understand it, me daughter had wan simple fever and now… me nah even know this a wah,” the distraught mother said. She believes that if proper care had been given to her daughter the first time she was taken to the hospital, her condition would not have reached such a state. Gossai is now reluctant to take her baby to the hospital again.
