Police launch probe into baby’s death at public hospital

Police authorities have launched a probe into the death of a five-month-­old baby who died after consuming prescription medication from Conde de São Januário Central Hospital (CHCSJ) on February 19, the Health Bureau said in a statement.
The bureau added that it is also investigating the case internally. As a police investigation is now underway, it cannot “disclose any further information at this stage.”
According to Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, the baby died on February 19 after being prescribed with the antiemetic Domperidona, and the anti-allergy medicine Dimetindeno. Lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho revealed that his office has assisted the parents in filing a complaint with the Judiciary Police.
The lawmaker told The Times that the baby’s parents contacted his office for assistance. Coutinho and Leong Veng Chai’s office will be holding a press conference regarding the case this afternoon.
“We would like to have further details on the baby’s cause of death because the autopsy report only states that he died from ‘sudden infant death syndrome,’” Coutinho said in a phone interview.
Furthermore, the law-­maker recalled that the autopsy report does not provide information on what happened at the hospital.
The Times reported last week that the family have cast suspicion over a doctor who they believe might have misunderstood the infant’s condition. Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily reported that the boy’s parents had brought him to the hospital after regurgitating milk on the morning of February 19. There, he was allegedly prescribed with the antiemetic Domperidona and the anti-allergy medicine Dimetindeno.
His condition, however, did not improve and his lips turned purple two hours later. He was sent back to CHCSJ, where another doctor diagnosed him with sepsis. The baby then went into shock and died that evening.
Coutinho also stressed that the family was required to wait for some time on both occasions when they rushed to the public hospital’s emergency room. He stressed his concern about the baby’s cause of death, and that the infant’s parents were questioning whether the treatment was appropriate.
The boy’s father, quoted by Apple Daily, said that the baby had always been healthy, although he suffered from favism (a genetic disorder triggered by the lack of a specific enzyme) and from a minor heart problem. He questioned whether the first doctor had underestimated the seriousness of his son’s condition, thus failing to prescribe the proper medication.