Relatives cry foul as 11-yr-old dies in hospital

CHENNAI: Local residents and kin of an 11-year-old boy staged a protest before a hospital in Besant Nagar, alleging medical negligence in his death on Sunday.On Saturday, M Aravindan, a class 7 student, was brought to New Asian Hospital on Second Avenue by his parents Murugan, an auto driver, and Lakshmi of Thideer Nagar, after he complained of stomach ache. Around Sunday noon, Dr Ravindran of the hospital  spoke to him and told his parents that he had recovered and would be discharged at 5.30 pm.  Around 4.30 pm, he started throwing up and there was no doctor to attend to him. A nurse gave him an injection and he started foaming at the mouth and died half an hour later. The doctor arrived only at 5.30 pm, it was said. Relatives and residents of Thideer Nagar soon gathered before the hospital, alleging that he died due to negligence. They broke the windowpanes and the hospital called the local police. A complaint was filed by the boy’s kin. Dr Ravindran failed to respond to calls made by this reporter.