Inadequate medical attention at a Puerto Vallarta IMSS hospital led to the amputation of a newborn baby’s arm, the National Human rights Commission (CNDH) has found.

In a recommendation letter addressed to IMSS chief Tuffic Miguel Ortega, the commission charged that the patient’s right to health protection had been violated through a series of actions and omissions by the medical and nursing staff at the Zone 42 General Hospital.

The baby girl’s mother filed a formal complaint before the CNDH, explaining that she arrived at the hospital during her 38th week of pregnancy. A C-section was ordered and her child was born but doctors ordered that the child be kept in the nursery because she had difficulty breathing.

“The mother noticed that the child had a black spot surrounded by red on her left hand,” said the CNDH in a statement. The mother was given restricted access to the child even after several medications and treatments were administered to the infant. A round of antibiotics was ordered, but the medications had to be shipped from Guadalajara.

Then “the mother noticed that the black spot was tough to the touch, after which she was not allowed to have physical contact with her child.”

The commission investigation found that the lesion turned into a serious infection, but medical staff never ordered special care or treatment. The infant was later transported to the Western National Medical Center in Guadalajara where several studies and procedures were ordered, but to no avail.

“On the contrary, the fingers of her hand turned black because the tissue was dead.” At this point, doctors in Guadalajara decided to amputate the baby’s left arm above the elbow.

The CNDH stated that “the lesion was caused by a lack of the required medical instruments.”

The agency issued 12 recommendations, including inscribing the girl and her parents in the national victims’ registry, which would grant all three access to an assistance and damage reparation fund that will provide the child with medical care for life.

The IMSS must also establish a trust fund through which the child’s access to rehabilitation would be guaranteed.

The health institute must also guarantee the best possible personal and social development of the girl and access to education up to and including university.

Source: El Universal (sp)