By Samuel Sukhnandan
The family of Sharezer Mendonca, the third child to have died after receiving pre-chemotherapy treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) in January, claimed that they were offered a compensation from a senior hospital official to bury the matter.
The aunt of the six-year-old child, Sherry Ann Mendonca, said that the family has also been kept in the dark, which leads them to believe that the investigation may not be as independent as it should be. Mendonca feels that top officials at the hospital may be trying to cover up the alleged wrongdoings.
“Right now, what they are trying to do, is to have us take compensation for the issue and that obviously means sweeping it under the rugs afterwards,” she told Guyana Times International, explaining that the family is not looking for any financial compensation, rather, they want to know what really led to Sharezer’s demise.
Compensation
Asked what type of compensation was offered, Mendonca said, “At first they were telling us they will pay for the funeral and when the swapping of the bodies happened, and they realised that things went wrong and they telling us any amount… any amount we can call it.”
The girl’s aunt was referring to January 25, when Sharezer’s body was given to the wrong family, resulting in an unauthorised autopsy. Eventually, the family discovered the body, which was on its way to Parika, being transported by a family from Bartica in place of another deceased young girl.
It was related that when the body was returned to the family, she was identified as young Mendonca. But to make matters worse, there were visible incisions made on her body which indicated that an autopsy had been performed. The family claimed that the preliminary autopsy found that she died as a result of heart failure and not from leukaemia, the disease she was being treated for.
The family is currently seeking legal advice and said that there seems to be a lack of professionalism and due diligence at the GPHC. The family’s legal team has also requested that the hospital make the young girl’s medical records available but they were told that it will be provided after the investigation.
As for the investigation, Mendonca told this newspaper that they were told that the investigation would have wrapped up on Saturday, but when they inquired, they were informed that it is still in process. The family said that they have spoken to the people carrying out the investigation. She said they questioned their knowledge of the situation and asked them to explain what may have gone wrong.
“We did notice that during the interview they were baffled by certain things that were already out there like the swapping of the bodies. They acted as though it was not out…,” she stated, explaining that despite several checks with the medical authority and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), they have not updated them on what is taking place with the investigation.
The family has also moved to hire a private pathologist and lawyer, but both of these individuals hit an impasse because they were told that all documents and information regarding the case will only be provided upon completion of the investigation being carried out.
Mendonca confirmed that the family was interviewed by the authorities, but claimed that based on the line of questioning, they are not confident that it will produce the facts.
“We met with the persons, but if you are doing an investigation you’ll try as much as possible to get enough information before they begin. It shows that it is bias at the moment. It’s like they are actually trying to see how much you (we) know, and how much they can actually clear them self of.”
Investigation
Meanwhile, GPHC Public Relations Officer Mitzi Campbell told this publication that she is not sure that the investigation is complete because officials at the hospital who are part of the investigative team are meeting with other families. She also denied that the family is being kept in the dark.
“I don’t think they are being kept in the dark. They were invited here. They had a discussion with the team and at the end of it all, it’s when the committee will complete its final report,” she explained, adding that she is not certain that there is a timeframe in which the investigation should wrap up.
Public Health Minister, Dr Karen Cummings had told this publication that the investigation into the deaths of six-year-old Sharezer Mendonca, three-year-old Roshani Seegobin and Curwayne Edwards is progressing well and would have been concluded last week. Sharezer was taken to the Paediatric Ward on January 3, where she was administered with an injection before undergoing treatment for leukaemia. However, shortly after, she became unresponsive. She was later transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, where she subsequently died.
