BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – OFFICIALS at the Ministry of Health have addressed media reports regarding the death of a baby at the Joseph N France General Hospital.
A post on social media alleged that the baby died from expired medication used to treat Jaundice.
However, in a recent statement on the incident, the Ministry of Health said the baby did not receive any medication, pointing out that it “divorces itself from the social media posts” made on Sunday, July 14, 2019.
In fact, the Ministry of Health’s statement noted that the social media posts do not accurately reflect the circumstances surrounding the occurrence.
The Ministry emphasised that “expired medication was not administered to the infant and death was not caused by the lack of medication”, citing an autopsy report.
“This was confirmed by an autopsy which was performed by a forensic pathologist earlier this week. The social media posts represent a significant breach of medical practitioner-patient confidentiality and a breach of the ethical code that governs the medical profession,” the statement read.
The Ministry described the woman’s pregnancy as high risk by virtue of the limited prenatal visits that would have been made to the local public health system.
According to WINN FM, the mother might have traveled to the Federation while pregnant and was not regularly under doctors’ supervision in the Federation.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health stated that the Pharmaceutical products or medication utilised at the J.N.F. General Hospital is procured through the OECS Pharmaceutical Procurement System (PPS), to which the Ministry contributes monetarily.
The Executive Management Committee of the J.N.F. General Hospital and the Ministry of Health used the statement to convey condolences to the mother and relatives on the loss of the infant’s life.
