Toddler given paracetamol before he died from superbug

 
p32 boodhoo
31 May 2012

A two-year-old boy died of a rare superbug only hours after he was prescribed with paracetamol by a GP at an east London polyclinic.

The parents of Muhammad Boodhoo claim that health chiefs have brushed off their pleas for information about what went wrong.

The GP, Dr Anwar Syed at The PSU Practice, a £5  million polyclinic in Manor Park, was exonerated of any wrongdoing by an NHS investigation.

The NHS trust said the condition was so rare and the signs so subtle that no GP would have been able to diagnose it, but admitted bosses failed to investigate quickly enough.

Muhammad’s father, Mohamad, 38, said he and his wife, Bibi, 32, were devastated by the death of their “happy and healthy” only child. In March, he took his son with “cold-like” symptoms to Dr Syed.

“When the doctor used a wooden tongue compressor and it came out with blood on the end, that should have been a warning sign. But he prescribed paracetamol, saying it would pass,” he said.

Muhammad was taken home, but began vomiting blood and was taken back to Dr Syed. He prescribed antibiotics, but Mr Boodhoo, a health care assistant, insisted that he refer the boy to hospital as an emergency.

As Mr Boodhoo arrived at Newham Hospital in his car, Muhammad collapsed. He carried the boy to A & E, where doctors tried to resuscitate him but he died a few minutes later — a month before his third birthday.

Mr Boodhoo said the family wanted an inquiry: “We need to know why Dr Syed didn’t pick up on the infection or call 999 straight away. Muhammad was our only child, he was so cute. He was everything to us.”

A post-mortem found that Muhammad, from Manor Park, was suffering from pneumonia, Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (a form of non-hospital MRSA) and a lower respiratory tract infection.

However, it found that he died of natural causes, meaning there will be no inquest.

Dr Syed said: “I offer my sincere condolences to the family. However, in the interests of patient confidentiality I am not able to provide any further comment.”

Dr Sadru Kheraj, medical director for NHS North East London and the City, said: “There were unfortunately some problems communicating back to the family in a timely way, and we have already apologised.”

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