“Just give me back my child; I ask for nothing else.” Standardised in tears, Mridul Islam repeatedly uttered these words as he mourned the sudden demise of his four-and-a-half-year-old son, Aavan. The young child breathed his last on Saturday, 3 October, whilst undergoing treatment at Universal Medical College Hospital in Mohakhali, Dhaka.
The tragic loss has thrown the family into profound grief, with the parents attributing the child’s untimely death to gross medical negligence, an inappropriate prescription of heavy antibiotics, and the total absence of a senior specialist in the intensive care unit.
According to family sources, Aavan was admitted to Universal Medical College Hospital on 28 September after presenting with fever and abdominal pain. He walked into the facility reasonably active and in good spirits, as his father recalled. His appetite remained intact, and he consumed home-cooked meals brought by his family throughout the initial days of his hospital stay. Over the phone, the toddler had repeatedly pleaded with his father to take him back home.
Initial medical management began under the suspicion that Aavan was suffering from dengue fever. However, his family maintained that multiple laboratory diagnostic tests returned negative results for the virus. Despite the absence of a positive dengue diagnosis, hospital clinicians allegedly proceeded with a treatment framework geared primarily towards dengue management.
By 2 October, Aavan’s physical condition had deteriorated sharply, prompting his transfer to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). His relatives alleged that no specialist consultant was physically present in the ICU to oversee the critically ill child; instead, treatment was administered strictly via telephonic instructions from an off-site doctor. Despite the family’s mounting anxieties, hospital authorities repeatedly reassured them that the boy’s condition was steadily improving.
Contrary to these assurances, the four-year-old suffered severe clinical complications, entering septic shock before passing away around 5:00 PM on Saturday. The family asserted that high doses of potent antibiotics administered during his stay triggered severe adverse reactions, precipitously accelerating his decline.
Adding to their distress, the family initially faced reluctance and uncooperativeness from hospital administrators when attempting to obtain the medical case summary and treatment records. Once the documents were finally secured, preliminary findings indicated the presence of a severe bacterial bloodstream infection alongside shock syndrome—data points that the family believes warrant a comprehensive and independent medical investigation.
Mridul Islam, who works as a media professional, expressed immense anguish over the tragedy, noting how inseparable he and his only child had been. The grieving family has departed for their ancestral village home to perform the final rites. They are currently preparing to pursue formal legal action against the hospital management and the attending medical personnel, demanding a thorough judicial inquiry to ensure those responsible are held fully accountable.
