Probe into boy's death at hospital after drip

Authorities are investigating the death of a boy who received a drip for over 10 seconds at a local hospital after his parents alleged that his death was a clinical accident and demanded 600,000 yuan (US$96,774) compensation.

The tragedy occurred when the victim, six-year-old Zhen Guoyao, received medical treatment for a cold and cough at the Shanghai No. 3 People's Hospital on January 10.

This was the third time the boy was taken to the hospital in Baoshan District after his father Zhen Lingyu took him there twice in January and he was prescribed some medicine for the cold, Shanghai Morning Post reported yesterday.

On the third visit, the father asked whether his son could stop taking the medicine as he seemed to be better although he still coughed.

A doctor surnamed Chen suggested the boy receive a drip after examining him. The father hesitated at first but finally agreed to it after Chen said the boy could receive the drip for two days.

The boy started to look painful and said his throat was sore after receiving the drip for seconds. The father turned off the switch immediately, but found the boy's face had turned purple and he was unconscious.

After more than half an hour of emergency rescue, the boy was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The hospital should be responsible as it was a clinical accident, the father claimed.

"The boy had a good health except allergy which made him vulnerable to cold and coughing in winter," he said.

The father demanded a drug test to check if the original fluid had any problem, but when Zhen and hospital officials came to Shanghai Institute For Drug Control on January 14, controversy raged over whether the drip package had been changed.

Zhen suspected the original package given to his son had been replaced as the package did not have both sides' signatures. He claimed both he and the hospital signed on the original at the emergency treatment room on January 10.

The test has not been done so far and hospital officials said it would bear the responsibility if the investigation showed that it was responsible.