Whose responsibility is it for sudden infant death? Recently, Foshan Intermediate People's Court made a final verdict on this case.
On June 17, 2005, around 4:00 PM, Zou carried her six-month-old baby girl, Xiao Jing, to a hospital in Foshan City for the third DTP vaccine inoculation. After leaving the hospital, Zou went to a hair salon to dye her hair and left the sleeping Xiao Jing on a sofa inside the salon. Around 7:30 PM, Xiao Jing began to show symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. The next day, Xiao Jing also developed a fever. Zou then purchased medicine from a pharmacy for the child to take.
At 11:00 PM on the 18th, seeing that Xiao Jing's condition was worsening, Zou finally sent her to the hospital for emergency treatment. During the trip to the hospital, Xiao Jing vomited again. At 1:00 AM on June 19, when Zou arrived at the hospital in Foshan, Xiao Jing had already stopped breathing and her heart had ceased beating. According to the hospital's emergency records, the doctors aspirated a small amount of white milky substance from Xiao Jing's lungs. At 1:30 AM, the doctor declared Xiao Jing clinically dead. The hospital believed that during the trip to the hospital, Xiao Jing's vomiting led to aspiration asphyxia, which was the cause of her death.
On December 15 of the same year, Zou filed a lawsuit against a hospital in Foshan to the court of first instance. On June 23 of the same year, the Foshan Medical Association issued a technical appraisal report on medical accidents, concluding that this case did not constitute a medical accident. The court of first instance then dismissed Zou's lawsuit, after which Zou appealed to the Foshan Intermediate People's Court.
Final Verdict: Hospital operation complied with work standards and there was no fault
The Foshan Intermediate People's Court pointed out that although Zou claimed that the temperature record of the refrigerator was a range value, according to general daily life experience, the temperature recorded at a specific time should be a definite value, not a range value; simultaneously, according to the recording method of the record sheet, some record sheets recorded the temperature value with punctuation separating two numbers, which could confirm that the hospital's statement should be accurate.
Regarding whether Zou acted improperly after Xiao Jing showed adverse reactions, based on current evidence, there was no proof that Zou contacted the defendant hospital immediately upon discovering Xiao Jing's adverse reactions, thus the court did not accept it.
After reviewing the case, the Foshan Intermediate People's Court believed that according to the medical accident technical appraisal report issued by the Foshan Medical Association, the defendant hospital was found not to have violated the vaccination work norms, immunization procedures, or vaccine usage guidelines, therefore, they did not support the claim that improper vaccination directly caused Xiao Jing's death. Xiao Jing's death was not causally related to the vaccine, and the rescue process conformed to rescue protocols.
In summary, the Foshan Intermediate People's Court believed that the facts were clearly identified in the first instance trial and the application of law was correct, so the original judgment was upheld, dismissing Zou's appeal.
1. Focus: Did the family's actions delay treatment opportunities?
The hospital stated that Zou placed her daughter Xiao Jing in an air-conditioned hair salon for nearly two hours, which might be the reason for the child catching a cold and developing fever, vomiting, and other symptoms.
After Xiao Jing exhibited these symptoms, Zou did not immediately take the child to the hospital for diagnosis and clarification of the cause, nor did she consult relevant doctors, but instead took the initiative to buy medicine outside for the child, which prevented appropriate treatment, leading to Xiao Jing's condition becoming increasingly serious.
In response, Zou said that when she discovered Xiao Jing showing symptoms such as vomiting, she immediately contacted the defendant hospital, reflecting on the adverse reactions Xiao Jing experienced after vaccination, but the hospital claimed that these symptoms were normal reactions after DTP vaccination.
The drugs later purchased and consumed by Zou for Xiao Jing were found to meet standards upon inspection by the Guangdong Foshan Pharmaceutical Inspection Institute.
As for Xiao Jing dying due to the aspiration of vomit into her lungs, currently only the treatment manual can prove this, but the authenticity of the treatment manual should be questioned.
2. Focus: Did the hospital violate regulations in storing vaccines?
Zou indicated that according to the "Refrigerator Temperature Record Table" provided by the hospital, the temperature of Refrigerator No. 1 on the day before the incident (June 16, 2005) and the day of the incident (June 17, 2005) was -18 to 6 degrees Celsius. Based on relevant medical knowledge about the vaccine, the vaccine would have frozen during storage, making accidents extremely likely.
The defendant hospital, however, pointed out that there were no errors or mistakes in their vaccine storage. Instead, Zou misunderstood the temperature records. The vaccine storage refrigerator was divided into two parts: the upper part was the freezer, and the lower part was the refrigeration compartment. The hospital measured the working temperature of the vaccine storage refrigerator twice daily as required, and the recorded temperature values were definite numbers. The DTP vaccine was stored in the refrigeration compartment, and the temperature completely met the storage requirements of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for DTP vaccines. If what Zou said was true, all children vaccinated at the hospital would have died from receiving spoiled vaccines, and Xiao Jing was already on the third dose of the same type of vaccine, so problems should have occurred during the first two doses, but in fact, they did not. The hospital explained.
Doctor: Severe symptoms after vaccination require timely medical attention
Dr. Peng Jun from a hospital in Foshan told reporters that among several types of vaccines, including DTP, the most common systemic reaction after vaccination is fever. Fever generally appears within 24 hours after vaccination, accompanied by fatigue, sleepiness, irritability, and general discomfort, and a few babies may also experience nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea as gastrointestinal symptoms.
Dr. Peng said that if the fever is below 38.5°C, and the baby has no other obvious discomfort, the body temperature usually returns to normal within 1 to 2 days. However, if the baby's temperature exceeds 38.5°C and is accompanied by more severe irritability, vomiting, etc., one must seek medical attention at the hospital promptly.
If you have any other questions: You can consult our consultation platform: http://www.fuukee.com/ http://bbs.fuukee.com/ Our experts will answer your questions within 3 minutes, absolutely ensuring your satisfaction!
Other related hot disease information:
What is female sexual aversion? What causes it? How to solve it?
Is it okay for pregnant women to eat leek? I am 7 months pregnant, and my stomach hurts.
Is it expensive to do a painless abortion in Shandong? What is the cheapest cost for a painless abortion?
How much does a medical abortion cost? Is a medical abortion safe? What harm does it do to the body?
What to do after finding out about an unplanned pregnancy, which abortion method is better to choose?
Gynecological Consultation Network and Shandong Health Network jointly create the first brand of women's health
What is immune infertility? Can immune infertility be cured? What are the symptoms?
What causes polycystic ovary syndrome? How is it treated? Approximately how much does it cost?
What causes fallopian tube blockage? Is it serious? Is it easy to treat? I'm quite scared.
Is dysmenorrhea easy to regulate? What should be eaten for dysmenorrhea? Take medicine [dysmenorrhea] Cervical hypertrophy is a disease? How should cervical hypertrophy be treated? Will [cervical hypertrophy] Female sexual aversion? What causes it? How to solve [two diseases] What causes vulvar vitiligo? Symptoms of vulvar vitiligo [vulvar vitiligo] What causes breast hyperplasia? How to check breast hyperplasia [breast hyperplasia] What causes ovarian cysts? Which treatment is safer [ovarian cyst]
Related theme articles:
Women's Concerns Hotspots Does Gynecological Disease Cause Infertility?
Beijing Epilepsy Experts: How to Treat Epilepsy?
Which Hospital in Shenzhen Can Thoroughly Cure Prostatitis?