After a wait of several months, medical records for six-year-old Sharezer Mendonca, who died at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) in January after being administered cancer drugs, were handed over to her family a few weeks ago.
The family’s attorney Ganesh Hira told Stabroek News that the report containing approximately 400 pages was handed over to the family three weeks ago and they have been reviewing it. He said that during their review, it was observed that a vital page was missing and they are in the process of making this known to the hospital. Hira said they will use the opportunity to request the document from the hospital before proceeding with legal action.
The attorney added that the family will move forward and file legal action even if the document is not submitted to them.
Mendonca was one of the three
children, who, in January, fell grievously ill after chemotherapy treatment and later succumbed at the GPH. The others were seven-year-old Curwayne Edwards and three-year-old Roshini Seegobin.
They were all leukemia patients and were treated by the same team of doctors. Edwards died on January 14, while Seegobin, of Enmore, East Coast Demerara, died on January 18, and Mendonca, of Queenstown, Essequibo Coast, died on January 24.
The GPH and the Ministry of Public Health launched separate investigations, which found that the medication was incorrectly administered and standard operating procedures were not followed.
Mendonca’s family had been assured that they would be given her medical records and made several requests but Hira had said that the process was frustrating as the family believed they were being pushed around.
The three doctors who were directly involved were relieved of their duties and subsequently sent on administrative leave on January 29.
Head of the Medical Council of Guyana, Dr Navindranauth Rambaran told Stabroek News last month that the medical council has deliberated on the findings of the investigations and forwarded their comments to the disciplinary committee for their input.
