Two-yr-old dies of drug reaction at Nair Hosp

Mumbai: A two-and-a-halfyear-old boy from Nagpada died at civic-run Nair Hospital on Tuesday allegedly after developing an allergic reaction to an injected drug.
Saurabh Jadhav, the son of a BMC employee, had a disorder in the urethra and for that, he was admitted to the Mumbai Central hospital on Monday. He was supposed to be operated upon on Tuesday.Saurabh had already undergone the first phase of the surgery at the same hospital nearly a month ago and had returned for the second phase.
"As part of pre-operative preparation, we administered three injections of Daxim (a drug belonging to the cephalosporin group) on the child and there was no problem . However, when the fourth dose was given to him, he suddenly turned blue, his respiration stopped and he went into shock,'' said deputy dean of Nair Hospital Dr M Shah. He added that it was a clinically confirmed case of anaphylaxis (life-threatening allergic reaction), but still, they called the Agripada police and conducted a post-mortem to establish the exact reason behind death.
Samples of the drug administered on Saurabh have been sent to the Food and Drug Administration for further analysis and Alkem Pharmaceutical , which manufactures the drug, has been alerted as well.
Saurabh's family is yet to come to terms with the tragedy-his mother, Majari, has been put under medication . "He was absolutely alright till the previous night. We played and talked till midnight . We also roamed around in the hospital laboratory. However, that one injection has ruined our life,'' said Majari who has not stopped crying since she heard the news.
While Daxim, a commonly used medicine is on the BMC list of scheduled drugs, in this case, Saurabh's parents had bought it from a nearby chemist. According to Majari, a nurse injected Saurabh with Daxim around 6:15 am on Tuesday. "He was sleeping at the time and she did not even bother to wake him up. Immediately my son started vomiting. After some time, his skin turned dark and gradually he lost consciousness. He was then taken to the intensive care unit (ICU).''
Doctors said they tried their best to revive him, but in vain. "Doctors put him on oxygen. They tried their best but it was too late. Around 6.30 pm, they told us that we have lost our son,'' said Madhukar, Saurabh's father, who works as a motor loader with the BMC.
Calling it highly unfortunate , Dr Shah said such incidents are very rare. "Daxim is a commonly used drug and we generally use around 2,000 to 3,000 vials a week at Nair Hospital itself. We have never received any other complaints ,'' he said.
However, the parents are inconsolable and "want justice'' . "We have lost our son. Strong actions should be taken against those who are responsible for his death, so that, no one else should suffer in the future,'' said Madhukar.
toireporter@timesgroup .com