Shiji C. and his wife Lekha are planning to visit a nearby old-age home on April 11, to mark the first death anniversary of their daughter.
Their 10-year-old daughter contracted Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) purportedly after undergoing blood transfusion at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram as part of leukaemia treatment in 2017. The couple says they are victims of a cover-up by the RCC and other authorities as the family waits for closure.
According to the family, the child underwent blood transfusion several times during the course of the treatment starting March 2017. She tested HIV positive in August.
“She tested negative for HIV until the fourth chemotherapy. She developed an eye infection and was readmitted to the RCC in August. It was then I accidentally saw a medical report stating HIV pending. I asked the doctor about it, who replied it could be a false positive result. Thereafter, attempts were made to conceal the truth in a bid to deflect the negligence on the part of the RCC,” says Lekha.
“To prove their stance, the ailing child was even taken to Chennai for tests. We were given an interim report mentioning target not detected. But, they withheld the final result from us. Until the death of my daughter on April 11, 2018 they maintained the same tone- no HIV,” she says.
Following tests in Chennai, the child was taken home. The family, before her death, conducted blood tests at two labs, the results of which turned out to be HIV positive. The family moved the Kerala High Court against the RCC.
According to Shiji, after his daughter’s death, the government informed the court that she had been suffering from HIV.
“We took our child to the RCC to treat a life-threatening disease but she returned after contracting another deadly disease. How can an institution like the RCC treat patients in such an irresponsible way? We have lost our daughter. We will fight this battle to the end,” Shiji says.
Earlier, a report by a high-level team said there was no technical fault on the part of the RCC.
