Toddler who was allegedly refused blood test dies in hospital

Parents of a toddler who tragically died in hospital after doctors allegedly turned away their pleas for blood tests have spoken out.

21-month-old Sandipan Dhar, from the northern Perth suburb of Joondalup, succumbed to leukemia on March 24.

His parents first took him to the Key Largo Medical Centre GP practice as he was battling a persistent fever but their request for a blood test were met with refusal, despite multiple visits.

According to the parents, doctors assured them that no further tests were necessary and advised monitoring Sandipan at home.

“The doctors said we didn’t need to do any further tests and should just take Sandipan home and monitor for at least five days to see if his fever dropped,” father Sanjoy Dhar said via The West Australian .

But Sandipan’s condition continued to deteriorate. His parents presented again at the Joondalup Health Campus, only to be turned away with the same advice.

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Sandipan’s decline began after his 18-month vaccinations on February 19, following which he developed a fever.

Despite his parents’ multiple visits and calls to the GP practice, they were reassured that post-vaccination fevers were normal and were advised to treat it with Panadol and Nurofen.

When they returned two days later Sandipan struggled to breathe, an X-ray revealed he had pneumonia and was required to be put on oxygen.

“I asked the doctors how quickly pneumonia can develop because we had brought Sandipan on Friday and they said he was perfectly fine,” Mr Dhar said.

“They didn’t give me an answer and said they needed to do further investigations.”

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Mr Dhar said he was at a loss when doctors questioned why Sandipan hadn’t been brought in earlier, despite having been told he was fine just days before.

“The duty doctors and nurses were trying to put all the blame on us, saying that we came too late,” he said.

“But when we said we had been to the hospital on Friday, they just kept their mouths shut. From then onwards they didn’t use a single word about the complications of our baby.”

Tragically, while being treated at the hospital, Sandipan’s condition rapidly deteriorated.

His mother said she noticed blood trickling from his mouth as he was whisked away for emergency care.

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Two hours later he was dead.

A postmortem revealed that the young boy had been suffering from leukemia, a diagnosis missed during his numerous medical visits.

Mr Dhar said Sandipan’s death has rocked his family to the core.

“Seeing photographs sets off Sandipan’s four-year-old brother Mrinal who still refuses to believe he is not coming back,” Mr Dhar said.

“We tried for days to explain it to Mrinal but it would make him so upset we eventually started lying and saying his brother has just gone away for a while.”

Key Largo Medical Centre declined to comment on the tragedy.

Ramsay Health Care, which operates Joondalup Health Campus, said it was “unlikely Sandipan’s hospital care was a factor in his death” in a statement.

A spokesperson said that samples collected from Sandipan “showed features of an undiagnosed longer term acute illness which may have contributed to his death”.

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