IGMH accused of mixing up meds of newborn baby

The Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has been accused of mixing up patient files and administering the wrong medicine to a newborn baby girl.

The mother, a young woman, shared the experience in posts on Facebook on Sunday.

According to her, she gave birth at the IGMH on March 18. Her baby weighed four kilograms, and was deemed healthy by the doctor.

But the next night, the staff said the baby had developed jaundice and took her to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

According to the young mother, she received a call from the doctor on the night of March 200, and was told that her daughter had developed an infection and that they were putting her on antibiotics.

“So, I said okay and agreed to do so. Same night I got a call from NICU at 4 am asking me to come feed the baby. So I went really quickly and the nurse who was handling my baby told me that they would be starting an antibiotic at 4 am that night and another antibiotic at 5 am which would be repeated the same evening at 4 pm and the other at 5 pm,” she recounted.

On the night of March 21, she received a call from the NICU telling her that they had shifted the baby back to the room. They also told her that the baby was fine, but that she would be treated with phototherapy for jaundice.

It was at this time that the nurses discovered the baby had been administered the wrong dosage of medicine.

“That night around 1:30 am while they were shifting my baby to my room , the nurses in my department noticed that the NICU nurses had given an extra dose of amikacin antibiotic to my daughter who was just two days old then. So a consultant came and informed me and my husband that they had given an extra 60 mg dose of amikacin at 5 pm that day which should have been given just once at 5 am and then it should have been stopped,” she wrote.

“So my baby was given a total of 120 mg of amikacin and it could lead to kidney failure or hearing loss and nerve problems! And they said they are SORRY about it! The AUDACITY!”

“My whole life fell apart and for them it’s just a mistake! Who is going to take responsibility for what they have done to my newborn child!” wrote the distressed woman.

According to her, the hospital informed her that they would treat her daughter if they notice anything wrong with the tests.

The young woman wrote that her baby was misdiagnosed with conditions she didn’t have, including clubfoot and infection.

According to her, there was a mix-up at the hospital, which resulted in the staff mistaking her child with someone else.

“Turns out they have mixed up. Mistakenly between my baby and someone else's. Can’t Believe they gave my daughter a wrong antibiotic the whole time and continued giving another antibiotic the whole time too when she was a perfectly healthy baby! Well done Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital - IGMH. For destroying my whole life,” she said.

IGMH was not immediately available for comment regarding the incident.