| The management of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is yet to receive aDead: Rohini Balkaranfinal report on the post mortem examination conducted on the remains of Rohini Balkaran who passed away suddenly at the public medical institution on Monday. This is according to a statement issued by the hospital yesterday, which pointed to the fact that the patient was seen at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit on January 16 last and her condition was recognized as an acute medical condition. As such, treatment was initiated in the A&E Department and she was subsequently admitted to the High Dependency Unit, the statement added, pointing out that her response to treatment was sub-optimal. “The patient was intubated and subsequently transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, unfortunately she succumbed.”It was also noted that while the PM was conducted on Wednesday, a final report is yet to be submitted.This newspaper understands that the PM was conducted by a Cuban doctor who was able to determine that while the woman had suffered from cardiac arrest and there was evidence of low potassium, there was nothing to ascertain what triggered her condition.The hospital in a statement on Tuesday noted that an assessment into the death of the Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara resident had been engaged by the relevant officials. It was further pointed out that a pronouncement cannot be made without the results of a PM.According to the woman’s husband, Chris Persaud, he was informed by hospital officials that since there are some questions pertaining to the woman’s death, no death certificate could be issued.He was told that samples of his wife’s remains will have to be sent abroad for further testing. Reports are that the samples should be sent off shortly and once processed in a timely manner, it will return by next month.“I have my opinions about what happened to my wife but I am going to be professional about it and let the experts deal with this…I will wait on the results to come back next month…right now I am a bit depressed and so all I can do is wait and see what caused her to die like this,” said a distraught Persaud on Wednesday.He along with his wife’s mother, Parbattie Balkaran and other relatives gathered at the hospital in disbelief that Rohini had passed away.“She was a strong, healthy girl,” relatives chanted as their emotions soared and queries started about the recent encounter with a doctor who is said to have clinics on the West Demerara and in the city.An emotional Parbattie Balkaran related a tale of the last few days of her only daughter’s life, revealing her suspicions of what could have led to her demise.The woman recounted that Rohini, who was staying at her Lot 1, Section B, Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara home, was recently suffering from pains in her heels. At the advice of a friend, the woman said, her daughter decided to visit a medical doctor on the West Demerara.“She left Saturday morning and said she going to see a doctor (namegiven) over the river…She keep saying is some friend tell she about the doctor.”The woman recalled that her daughter left by herself and returned the same day, informing her that she had received an injection and was given three types of medications to help ease the pain.According to the woman, her daughter consumed the first prescribed dose of the medication around 19:00 hours Saturday before heading to bed. However, by the wee hours of Sunday morning, Rohini was awakened with immense discomfort in her feet.“She just call out fuh ‘Mommy, Mommy come, I can’t lift my two feet’, and so I call me husband and I try fuh rub up she feet with methylated spirits…We try and fetch she and she was just dragging.”A doctor said that this was as a result of paralysis caused by the low potassium.Recognising the severity of her daughter’s condition, the woman said that efforts were made to rush her to the public hospital where she was admitted to the High Dependency Unit before being transferred to the ICU. She remained there until yesterday when her condition took a turn for the worst.The 33-year-old woman was a teacher at the Bladen Hall Multilateral School and a student of the University of Guyana, pursing a Degree in Education. She was said to be of good health and had no health complaints other than pains in her heels prior to being attended to by a medical physician one day before being rushed to the public hospital with incapacitated lower limbs.A source at the hospital said that the first set of tests done soon after admission revealed low potassium. This is a condition that could cause paralysis and cardiac arrest and would require urgent treatment.The woman had reportedly been attended to by a physician on the West Demerara who had prescribed medications for the pain. The doctor later said that he administered an injection to the woman’s heel the day before she was admitted to the public hospital. The injection was triamcinolone, after the doctor had diagnosed plantar fasciitis, which she had suffered from for several months. Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the thick tissue on the bottom of the foot.The doctor, when contacted Monday evening, said that he also gave the woman Diclofenac, and a low dose Prednisone, which is an anti-inflammatory drug, with instructions that if there was no improvement then she should take Nimsulide, also used in the treatment of pain. He was at pains to point out that none of these medications could cause low potassiumThe dead woman leaves to mourn her husband, a three-year-old daughter, parents, siblings and other relatives. She will be cremated on Sunday at the Good Hope crematorium. |
