Karachi hospital's alleged negligence leaves 13-year-old boy handicapped

KARACHI: A private hospital's alleged negligence has left a 13-year-old boy handicapped here in the city's Landhi area, according to a claim by the minor's parents on Monday.

The parents of Hamza Rehan, 13, alleged that staff at the private hospital administered a wrong injection that left their child handicapped. The kid was admitted in a private hospital near Landhi's Labour Square for fever on June 22.

An allegedly wrong injection left his right hand blackened, whereafter the young boy was shifted first to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) then to the trauma centre of the Civil Hospital Karachi, where doctors had to amputate his hand in order to stop the poison from spreading.

According to officials at the Civil Hospital Karachi's trauma centre, Rehan's body still has poison and he has been shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

In this regard, Dr Muhammad Ali, the district health officer (DHO) for Malir, contacted the 13-year-old boy's parents and the related hospital for information and initiated an investigation.

Rehan's mother and father — who is a rickshaw-driver and the sole breadwinner at home for his wife and five children — has appealed to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Health Department, and the Healthcare Commission to investigate the matter.

Rehan's parents have also requested financial aid for complete recovery of their son.