Infant’s death at public hospital | First diagnosis indicated ‘nothing serious’ with baby’s condition

The tragic death of a five-month-old infant at the Conde de Sao Januario Central Hospital (CHCSJ) on February 19 has once again shone a spotlight on the management of the city’s public medical services. The hospital treatment the baby received has been brought under fire by his family: the father believes that an incorrect prescription may have caused the baby’s abrupt death.
In a press conference held at the Macau Civil Servants Association (ATFPM) headquarters yesterday afternoon, the deceased baby’s father, Io Chi Fan, accompanied by lawmaker Pereira Coutinho, accused the hospital of its possible problematic medical prescription and internal mismanagement, which could have led to his son’s death. The leaders of yesterday’s meeting hope that the authorities will launch an independent investigation into the matter, led by overseas experts.
The father claims that the doctor, that he identified only by surname, prescribed his son with the antiemetic Domperidona and the anti-allergy medicine Dimetindeno after the first diagnosis, reassuring him that there was ‘nothing serious’ about the baby’s condition. Nonetheless, the baby boy’s lips turned purple after taking the medication at home. The frustrated father then rushed him to the hospital for another diagnosis.
“We arrived at the hospital at around 2:30 in the afternoon, but it took two hours for the specialist doctor on duty to come for my son’s treatment,” said Mr. Io, adding that the pediatrician needed to be called back to work. He also noted that the doctor questioned him twice on wether his son had taken any other medication while the boy was hospitalized later.
A couple of hours after the baby underwent a blood test, another two doctors issued a notice of critical condition, saying that the boy suffered from dehydration, shock and sepsis before confirming his death at 7:45 pm without further explanation.
The father later discovered that the antiemetic prescribed by the first doctor was different from that shown on the health bureau’s prescription medication website, suspecting that it was partly linked to the baby’s death. He also criticized the hospital for not disclosing his son’s condition while hospitalized and for not revealing the eventual cause of his death.
During the press conference, Coutinho expressed his disappointment with the baby’s autopsy report, which the lawmaker thought failed to provide details on the infant’s death and his condition in hospital. He also demanded that the SAR government submit the final text of the medical malpractice law to the legislative assembly in order to lift public confidence in local medical services.
According to the lawmaker, CHCSJ has been urging Mr. Io to sign the death certificate since his son passed away, whereas the Judiciary Police (PJ) told him not to so a probe could be launched. The incident has greatly grieved the family, with the mother undergoing mental problems despite counseling services offered by the hospital. Staff reporter