5-year-old dies after circumcision at United Medical College Hospital

A five-year-old child has passed away following a circumcision procedure conducted at United Medical College Hospital in the capital's Badda. The young victim, identified as Ayaan, was a nursery student at a private school in the capital.

Ayaan's father Shamim Ahmed alleged that the hospital's mishandling led to the loss of his child.

On 31 December, Ayaan was circumcised under full anaesthesia at United Medical College Hospital in Satarkul Badda, allegedly without parental consent. He was transferred to the hospital's Gulshan branch from there as he did not regain consciousness a few hours post-operation. 

After seven days of keeping him on life support in the paediatric intensive care unit, the doctors declared Ayaan dead early Sunday.

The hospital authorities handed over Ayaan's body to his family around 4:35pm on Sunday. United Hospital has formed an inquiry committee to probe the incident.

According to Shamim Ahmed's colleague Habibur Rahman, the body was taken to Suhrawardy Hospital for autopsy on Monday morning.

Habibur told The Business Standard, "The police have been informed. Considering that the United Medical College Hospital falls under the jurisdiction of Badda police station, a case will be filed against the hospital there."

Expressing dismay over the situation, he noted, "All necessary tests were conducted on Ayaan the day before the circumcision. We trusted the doctors with everything, and their wrongful treatment resulted in the loss of our child's life."

Ayaan's uncle, also named Habibur Rahman, told TBS yesterday evening that the boy's postmortem was done and he will be buried in Baruna Bazar of Rupganj.

He claimed that the doctors took a class for student doctors for an hour and a half, keeping Ayaan in the operating theatre, which can be revealed from CCTV footage. "Ayaan died due to negligence of the doctors, considering circumcision as a small operation."

The hospital authorities, however, denied taking any class during surgery.

The uncle said Ayaan's family went to United Medical College Hospital for his circumcision under a Tk10,000 package. However, additional tests costing Tk3,000 were required. But now, after Ayaan's passing, the family received a bill of Tk6.5 lakh.

Later, the hospital forcefully returned the body at midnight without settling the bill, he added.

Regarding the application of full anaesthesia for circumcision, Professor Dr Debabrata Banik, former chairman of the Department of Anaesthesia, Analgesia and Intensive Care Medicine at BSMMU, told TBS that local anaesthetic drugs can also cause problems in children. 

"Circumcision is nothing to take lightly. Abnormal reactions of drugs, the type of drugs applied, the child's allergy to drugs can cause problems. You have to be more careful about children. The hospital should investigate the matter," he said.

Ariful Hoque, public relations manager of United Hospital, told TBS, "We regularly counselled the patient's family as per our protocols. Ayaan's condition started to deteriorate yesterday [7 January] afternoon and he passed away at 11:20pm."

Ariful further said the hospital had handed over all the documents of the patient including the consent form to the patient's relatives.

"We approached the incident humanely and considered the financial aspect compassionately. If legal action is taken, we will follow the necessary steps in accordance with the law."

He noted that United Medical College is a concern of the United Group and both institutions maintain international standards.

When asked about the possibility of mistreatment, he said, "An inquiry committee was formed on 1 January. The committee has already held a meeting. We expect the report to be available within ten working days. Only then can we determine if there was any mistreatment."

He added that the doctors involved in administering anaesthesia or performing the surgery would continue their duties until the investigation report is received.

Prof Dr Abdul Wakil, principal, United Medical College, told TBS that no doctor wants to kill a patient. Accidents can cause death. 

"A committee has been formed to investigate whether there was any mistake by the doctors. Action will be taken after receiving the report of the committee," he added.

Dr Md Liaquat Hossain, acting registrar at the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC), last night said they had not received any complaint regarding the issue. "We have seen it in the news. If anyone complains to us, we will look into the matter."

He added that the BMDC can cancel doctors' licences or impose other punishments if doctors' wrongdoing or negligence is proven.