A five member committee led by Ashok Kumar Chaurasiya, director of the Far-western Regional Health Directorate, formed to investigate the death of Subham Gurung, 8, of Kundahar, made the claim on its report to the District Administration Office (DAO).

The report states that the victim did not have any chronic illness prior to the incident, but showed low platelet and white blood cells count during treatment and should have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

However, the minor was admitted to general ward and referred to Manipal Teaching Hospital at the last moment. The report also asserted that the minor had no pulse and was already brain-dead upon arrival at Manipal.

The committee concluded that the incident was caused by the laxity and short sightedness of Dr Deepak Koirala and nurses involved in the treatment. “It has been found that the doctor, on the day of the incident, had referred the boy to the ward after conducting routine check-up at the Out Patient Department but failed to show up at the ward,” said Chaurasiya.

The report revealed that the admission of a serious patient in general ward, indifference of the medical staff and absence of a doctor at the ward were the primary reasons leading to the death.

The disregard shown by the hospital management upon arrival of the investigation committee and its failure to prepare an official report of the incident were other shortcomings on the hospital’s side.

However, Chairman and Managing Director of Fishtail Hospital Dr Pradeep Ghimire, expressed dissatisfaction at the report.

“Postmortem report shows that the pus in the chest was the cause of Subham’s death but the committee’s report indicates something else,” he said. Meanwhile, the hospital has agreed to provide discount on treatment of the patients coming with the recommendation of the struggle committee formed by the deceased relatives.