Coimbatore: The joy of a young couple in Coimbatore turned to sorrow in just four days as their baby lost his eyesight allegedly due to medical negligence by a private hospital in the city where the mother gave birth.
The mother who had delivered a boy in March at the hospital was allegedly not allowed to nurse the baby. The doctors had apparently administered fluids to the infant intravenously instead.
The father, a 30-year-old Sales Executive in a private bank says that though the baby was healthy, the hospital did not allow the mother to feed him for three days citing their policy; the baby was placed in an incubator and put on IV; the parents were allowed to see him only through the glass door of the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit.
A swelling had developed on the infant's left hand and the infection spread to other parts of the body, his parents said.
Very soon, the infant lost his vision and the parents alleged medical negligence, planning to approach the consumer redress forum in Chennai demanding a compensation of Rs5cr.
However, the hospital management has refuted theses allegations, stating that they followed the correct procedure in treating the infant.
