Calls made for independent probe into children’s death at GPHC

There have been several calls for an independent probe into the deaths of the three children, who all lost their lives after the administering of a pre-chemotherapy injection at the Georgetown Public Hos-pital.
Rights of the Child Commissioner and activist, Nicole Cole expressed her view that an external investi-gation which includes representatives from recognised and relevant organisations is more in keeping with transparent and impartial than the hospital investigating itself.
“I think an independent investigation should be carried out to determine the true facts. One cannot trust investigations done by GPHC to be impartial,” Cole explained, in an interview with this publica-tion.
“The investigations should have at least three key organisations represented which (are generally acknowledged to) work in the best interest of children.”
Giving an example, she recommended that the Terms Of Reference (TOR) of such an investigation should include the Guyana Medical Council, the Rights of the Child Commission and the Caribbean Medical Council, in order to ensure impartiality.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) also added its voice for an external investiga-tion into the deaths of the three children. According to the Party in a statement, parents have certain expectations when they place their children in the care of health-care institutions and they deserve answers.
Moreover, the PPP/C expressed its sincerest condolences to the families of six-year-old Corwin Ed-wards, six-year-old Sharezer Mendonca, and three-year-old Roshini Seegobin and urged the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to provide answers.
Mendonca was taken to the Paediatric Ward on January 3, where she was administered with pre-chemotherapy injection but became unresponsive. She was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where her face started to swell and she later succumbed.
During the same period which Mendonca was admitted, three-year-old Seegobin visited the same medical institution for cancer treatment, but after returning home, her condition deteriorated. The leukaemia patient usually received treatment at the hospital.

Mendoca’s body was given to the wrong family for burial in what was alleged to have been an attempt to cover up her true cause of death.
Curwayne Edwards also passed away during this period after undergoing similar treatment. The injec-tions were allegedly administered through the children’s spinal cords rather than intravenously. The use of the drug at the GPHC has since been discontinued, the hospital said.
Following the concerns raised, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence said the ministry has reached out to the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) for technical support in its investigation into the cir-cumstances surrounding the passing of the three children. In a statement, at her Brickdam office, Min-ister Lawrence noted that technical support was sought from PAHO to support the process of open-ness and transparency.