Doc declares woman dead without examining her!

The woman who was declared dead even though she was alive at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, was a case of sheer negligence by a duty doctor, it has emerged in an investigation conducted by an Internet newspaper. During the investigation, the newspaper found that blatant disregard for human life at Bangladesh’s largest state-run health facility was the reason behind the blunder. This blunder has shocked and alarmed many. It had raised questions about whether the protocol following which a doctor declares a person dead is working properly or needs to be changed. The investigation into the blunder conducted by bdnews24.com tried to find the answer speaking to a number of senior physicians and staff of female ward 802 where the woman in her mid-40s finally died barely a day after her Phoenix-like rise. The doctor did not examine the patient before giving the death certificate – was the clear answer coming from them. In fact, this was the talk on Saturday in the medicine department of the country’s biggest academic institution and hospital where, at any given time, patients at least twice the number of allocated beds receive treatment. Deputy Director of the DMCH Dr Mushfiqur Rahman said that they also opened an investigations and a report was due by Monday. The identity of the female patient, who died on Friday, could not be known. The hospital director admitted the woman after he found her unconscious near the hospital during a drive to evict illegal structures. She had been treated for weakness and malnutrition. On Thursday noon she was declared dead, only to be found alive after four hours when a boy from mortuary arrived in the ward to take the body for autopsy. Finally she expired on Friday afternoon.