maldives medical watch

Dr Abdulla Waheed conceals the true Zakwan report.

2008-11-05T02:23:00.001-08:00

The family of Ali Zakwan, the little boy who died at IGMH due to negligence of the then head of Childrens' medicine department Dr George John, has been denied justice by the Maldives justice system. Case of medical negligence filed by Zakwans' family has been given the cold shoulder.

We at MMW have been informed of a special investigation report into the incident that was compiled by a team of doctors at IGMH headed by Dr Abdulla Waheed. This investigation was conducted in the immediate aftermath of the death of Zakwan as part of an internal review into the circumstances of the events that lead to the sad outcome.

Although we have not gained access to the report itself, we are made to understand that the 10 plus page document clearly highlights negligence committed by doctors involved in care of Zakwan at IGMH. The report, we are told, names Dr George John, then the incharge of childrens' department as the main culprit in the negligent act. It also highlights that IGMH must take responsibility for the whole affair and pay compensation to the family for their loss.

What has happened to this report? In a private conversation that we had with a senior level medical administrative staff at IGMH, who at that time worked with Dr Mohamed Solih himself at his office, informed us that Dr Abdulla Waheed ordered the report be`shelved as part of a cover-up! Working from within the ministry of Health, Dr Waheed himself, formed a second committee to re-write the report, with the interest of the hospital getting preference over the truth, to draw up a second non-damaging report.

In addition to this, we are aware of a campaign conducted by Dr Abdulla Waheed and Dr Abdulla Afeef to plant the entire blame for the sad outcome on Dr Fathmath Shafga, with whom they apparently had a strained relationship. On the instruction of Dr Waheed, Dr Afeef planted ideas in the head of the family of Zakwan to suggest that the outcome was as a result of negligence from Dr Shafga, a fact that, we are told, was disputed in the first report into the events.

MMW, has also been informed that Mr Husnu Suood, the lawyer for the Zakwan family, was informed of the presence of the first report and the acts of Dr Abdulla Waheed in obstructing justice for the family. He has not been given access to the original report. The case, has been held back from courts for the past 3 years with nothing other than an initial hearing conducted.

MMW asks that justice be done for the family of Zakwan and just compensation be provided. They deserve to know the truth.

MMW endorses Anni.

2008-10-20T03:54:00.001-07:00

MMW has decided, after much deliberation, to endorse MDP presidential candidate Mr Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) in the upcoming 2nd round of the presidential elections.

Maldives is in need of sweeping reforms in all sectors of public service. Such reform has been cosmetic, slow, halting and incomplete during the reign of the current president and the Candidate for DPR. The health sector has faltered and failed to deliver basic medical care for the large majority of the populace of this nation. Real changes and improvement is not possible, as we understand, under the leadership of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. He has, had his turn(s) and failed miserably.

Endorsing Anni has not been easy. However, the team behind him at this crucial moment in time is more than capable of turning this ailing country to health ad wellbeing. We at MMW herewith Endorse Anni for president of the Maldives.

May Allah guide us all in achieving our true potential as a nation. Ameen.

MMW team.

Maldives Medical Watch revival

2008-10-20T03:44:00.001-07:00

The team at MMW has changed following last nights meeting held at KL. The new operations team is based in KL. We will continue to use the services of informers placed within the institutins across the country.

The team has been trimmed down to 3 active members; Shizmeena, Ismail and Mubeen. We thank and respect the decisions of those members who have chosen to leave the team.

For the team,

Mubeen.

Leaked letter from IGMH

2008-07-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

To :
Dr. Fathmath Ali Didi
The Director,
Medical Administration
IGMH.

7 July 2007

Respected Madam,

With reference to the previous conversations, we would like to bring to your kind notice our experience with Dr. Rony Gerorge who joined our ward as a pediatrician.

Dr. Rony Geroge joined our department on 25th June 2007. We had a good opportunity to work with him and evaluate him.

We found him irresponsible, incompetent and on occasion lacking in basic knowledge to deal with pediatric patients. We feel that he may be doing harm to the pediatric patients he attend. During the period he stayed with us his practice required continuous monitoring.

May we also remind that he was brought to IGMH after having practiced in a hospital in one of the atolls for longer than a year. Therefore, we are concerned that he might be allowed to return to one of the islands where he would continue his malpractice unsupervised.

This is for your kind notice and necessary action.

Dr. Ismail Shafeeu
Registrar in Pediatrics
Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital

Help us find this doctor.

2008-04-01T00:26:00.001-07:00

Name: Dr Rony George,
Sex: Male
Age: Around 40 to 45 years
Specialty: Pediatrician
Nationality: Indian,

Known to have worked at:

M. Muli Regional Hospital in 2007.
IGMH in 2007

Description: Tall, thin, lightly tanned, walks with a barely noticeable limp, no facial hair or spectacles

Reportedly still working in the Maldives.

The gross Casualty Medical Officer.

2008-03-28T05:38:00.001-07:00

A complaint that seems to be going unheard:

I am a 34 year old man from Ga. Gemanafushi living and working in Male' for the past many years. I have been to IGMH several times over the past many years to get treatment for my 15 year old daughter who suffers from epilepsy.

In all my experiences I have never come across the kind of experience as I did last week (MMW notes: email originally send to MMW in February). I was at IGMH to show my daughter because she had started to complain of headache that morning. She was saying that it was similar to the kind of headaches that she gets just before she gets a fit.

We were unable to get an appointment for Dr Ali Latheef, whom we regularly consult. Not wanting to wait till my daughter suffers another terrible fit, I took her to the emergency room to have her seen and if possible get some treatment that might prevent her from getting a fit again. She was already on medications, but we were close to running out of her tablets.

After waiting in the casualty waiting area, our token number finally flashed on the display at the "casualty medical officer" room. We had no idea who we were about to see. We wouldn't have anyway expected to see anything like what we saw. Medical treatment aside, this was a terrible sight.

Sitting almost fully slumped in her chair was a lady doctor who seemed to be in her late 20s to early 30s. She was clearly not a Maldivian. She is darked skinned, not that her skin colour bothers me (MMW notes: we believe this description is given for the sake of identifying the doctor). Her hair was all over the place, I could have sworn that her hair had not been touched by a comb or brush in ages. Her white doctors' coat, if you would still call it white, was all crumpled, with patches of what appeared to be coffee or tea stain, the hem dirty from dust and other grime and carrying blue ink marks as if she had been drawing on it. This was THE most unsightly doctor I had ever seen in my entire life. The only things that I saw about her that gave me a hit of her having prepared to come to work were the conspicuous white talcum powder covering her forehead and cheeks and the lip-stick on her mouth.

Her spectacles, I don't know if she could really see though them, had what appeared to me as heavy oily finger prints all over the lenses.

Her appearance was so gross that my daughter turned to me and said that she'd rather see someone else. But we had no choice.

After a few questions and plenty of time to illegibly scribble on the prescription pad, and an in between happy chatting phone call in some foreign language, she handed us a treatment plan; which was actually a refill of our old prescription. She hadn't laid a finger on my daughter, who was obviously relieved that she wasn't touched by the "gross doc".

I tried to politely ask her what her diagnosis of the current headache was. In a quick but thankfully forcefully assuring tone she said "nothing to worry". I was worried. I have seen doctors see my daughter before. This was nothing even close to the minimum examination
we we used to before.

Unhappy, I went to the ER coordinator, who happened to be a senior Maldivian nurse to complain. She was nice to me. She listened to what I had to say. I complained about 2 things. Her dress sense and hygiene, which I told the coordinator was shameful for a doctor and about the way she was treating patients without examining them.

What the coordinator candidly revealed to us was not surprising: similar complaints have been reported about the same doctor on several occasions. She has apparently been talked to about the complaints by ER coordinators and supervisors. But, even after repeated complaint there has been no improvement in her attire or medical practice AND no action at all from the hospital administration either.

Determined to do something about it, I got myself excused from work the next morning to go to the CEOs office to meet Dr Yasir or Dr Fathmath Didi to officially complain. I now realize it was all a waste of time. After waiting for 2 hours I was told that Dr Yasir was unable to meet me today because he was busy with some other work. I saw him sitting in his office all this time all alone. I was given 10 minutes with one of the administrative boys who politely listened to my complaints but said that they couldn't do anything themselves. I was asked to come again tomorrow and that Dr Yasir might be able to meet me then.

Frustrated, I asked the young administrative officer to relay my complaints to his seniors as I was not in a position to stay away from work another day.

I did write a letter to IGMH the next day. Till today I am awaiting a response.

By the way, after leaving hospital after seeing the "gross doc" we went to see Dr Ali Latheef at his private practice. He was kind enough to see my daughter and change treatment.

Abdul Samad (not real name).

This email has been shortened for clarity.

Update:The case of the baby who almost bled to death from a central line.

2008-03-28T04:45:00.001-07:00

Finally some good news!

The baby and its twin are both doing well and are expected to leave hospital in the next week or two. According to our sources the child remained in intensive care for 3 weeks because of small size and the "accidental bleeding" episode.

According to family sources the doctors looking after the children are confident that both would survive with minimal to no adverse effects. The child who had the "accident" would apparently be on anti-epilepsy medications for a few more weeks and be subjected to frequent developmental assessments to identify possible neurological and developmental deficits.

Note: We have received emails from one individual claiming to be a nurse looking after the child. Her primary concern was that we were only covering negative aspects of hospital care, in particular newborn intensive care. We would like to publicly state that we do investigate other cases as well but do not get the same level of information and cooperation from patient families when the reported cases involve adults and elderly. We are willing to bring out both sides of any story and would encourage everyone to write to us to express their views.

Food poisoning at IGMH update

2008-03-11T07:59:00.001-07:00

The catering was in fact provided by Buru Catering Services. This has been confirmed to us by staff at the catering service. We apologize to Brothers Catering for having mentioned their name in our previous post.

Most of the doctors who were admitted for IV fluids have been discharged home now and only 2 are reportedly still getting treatment at IGMH. They are also expected to improve and leave for home by late evening today.

A source within Maldives Food and Drug Authority, speaking on condition of anonymity has confirmed that food samples have been received at their lab and that tests are underway. A rice preparation, a chocolate flavoured desert pudding and a beef preparation are reportedly the most likely to be the offending food. She told us that the tests are likely to take 24 to 48 hours to reveal full results.

The matter was apparently brought to their attention by Dr Ashraf himself, Buru Catering and some doctors from IGMH who were themselves affected.

Several doctors at IGMH fall sick, few admitted for treatment and several OPDs cancelled

2008-03-11T07:44:00.001-07:00

In an apparent food poisoning caused by eating food at a party held at IGMH, several Maldivian and Foreign doctors working at IGMH have fallen sick today.

Several doctors, more than 20 according to information received from IGMH public relations counter, were absent from work today due to diarrhea, abdominal pains and high grade fever. We have received reports that a few of the doctors were admitted temporarily in the emergency room with severe dehydration and abdominal cramps last night and this morning.

Today morning several OPD clinics at IGMH were canceled because doctors could not report to work because of ill health. According to our sources, more than 15 OPDs were canceled in total this morning and afternoon. The OPD services were grounded to a halt and several patients had to return home when the hospital administration were unable to find well enough doctors to replace those who had called in sick. According to some counts some 250 appointments were canceled today. Several OPDs are expected to be cancelled tomorrow as well.

One doctor, who was herself affected, answered an SMS from us to report that the doctors ate at a party thrown by Dr Ahmed Ashraf Ali, Urologist, to mark the birth of his child (and his 2nd marriage) yesterday. She said that she thought that the food was either improperly cooked or contaminated.

The catering for the event according to another source was Brothers Catering and the alleged offending food was a rice preparation which unfortunately was a great hit at the party. We cannot confirm whether that information is correct. It was reported to us that Dr Ashraf has personally called most of those affected and offered his apologies. We hope that concerned authorities would investigate this incident appropriately.

We at MMW express our best wishes to all doctors for a full and quick recovery and hope that they are all able to return to work as soon as possible.

Baby dies at IGMH operating theater following birth by C-section.

2008-03-06T05:37:00.001-08:00

A baby delivered by a preplanned C-section at IGMH has today died inside the operating theater. According to our sources within IGMH operating room, the baby was delivered in a pre-planned "elective" C section at around 8:30 am on 6th March 2008. The pediatrician on "on-call" duty, a recently joined senior pediatrician from India Dr Bhagwat failed to attend the delivery despite being informed on time by Obstetric surgeon (because of Thick Meconeum in Amniotic fluid, a name given to situation where baby passes stools inside the womb).

The most junior level medical officer was asked to attend the potentially troublesome delivery and the unthinkable happened.

The baby was extracted without any difficulty according to our source, who claims that the obstetric team completed the section "by the book" because of recent negative publicity it had received in the media. She says that she and others in the room clearly heard the baby "cry" after birth. Baby was then handed over to the junior doctor (who was in place of the pediatrician). The baby apparently suddenly stopped breathing while his mouth was being cleared of meconeum by the junior doctor.

Our source reports that at this stage Dr Bhagwat was called again to attend urgently. She says that the junior doctor attempted to revive the baby and was later assisted by the anesthesia doctor in the resuscitation because of the time the pediatrician was taking in attending. The baby's heart stopped beating a few minutes after birth, just as the pediatrician arrived in the operating room.

We were told by our source that the pediatrician asked his junior to stop attempting to revive the baby and to "declare him dead", reportedly about 20 minutes after baby was delivered. He had made no significant contribution to the resuscitation effort. This had apparently created some friction between the pediatrician and the anesthesia doctor.

The family was called about 45 minutes after the baby died and told that the baby died because of "congenital anomalies incompatible with life". Family was told that the "best efforts" at reviving the child had been unsuccessful. As evidence of the anomalies, the family was shown a "dark skinned area" on the shin!

We at MMW would like to know why the senior pediatrician, who wan "on-call" for any pediatric and newborn emergency for the day, had not attended the delivery despite being asked to be present? Was he informed on time? Why was the most junior medical graduate in the department allowed to attend high-risk deliveries on his own? Was the baby alive at birth? What made the baby's heart stop (was it something that the junior doctor unknowingly did)? Could the baby have been revived had there been senior level pediatric doctors? Was the child congenitally abnormal? If not why was the family explained in those terms?

There are many many questions.

MMW is deeply concerned about the state of affairs at IGMH and call on the hospital administration to make good on their responsibilities and deliver us a safe and efficient hospital service.

Case of Gentamicin ototoxicity due to over dose? the case from Thinadhoo Regional Hospital

2008-03-06T05:03:00.001-08:00

A 3 year old girl from G. Dh Thinadhoo has turned deaf following treatment for a middle ear infection at Thinadhoo Regional Hospital. The child was seen by Pediatrician stationed at TRH Dr Pavel and diagnosed as a case of Otitis Media (infection of the middle ear cavity).

Family member reported to MMW that child was prescribed antibiotics including Gentamicin. Gentamicin is a drug that is commonly used for significant infections caused by Gram Negative Bacteria (a special group of infection causing bacteria that are known to cause middle ear infections). Child also reportedly had 2 surgeries performed on her ear in 3 days.

During treatment parents reported noticing that the child was not responding to sounds as she used to. Initially they discounted this to be due to the ear infection. Dr Pavel had assured the family that the hearing would improve following treatment.

With the infection completely cleared child continued to have difficulty hearing. Parents were worried and had the child taken to Male' for further medical care. ENT specialist Dr Mauroof from IGMH reportedly told parents that the deafness was permanent and that it was caused by Gentamicin (which is known to have ototoxic side effects) being used in inappropriately high doses. The child has since then been taken abroad and deafness (sensorineural hearing loss due to ototoxic injury from Gentamicin overdose) confirmed.

We consulted a Maldivian pediatrician, who wished not to be named, at his clinic who confirmed that Gentamicin is known to cause ototoxic deafness in a few patients who are prescribed it. The senior pediatrician also told us that he believed that the dose used was too high. [We counter checked the dose from BNF and found that the dose was in fact unusually high. She was prescribed 80mg three times a day. This is significantly higher than the recommended dose for the 16 kg girl. The recommended total daily dose is 7.5mg/kg/day, this would be a total daily dose of 120 mg not 240mg that was given].

The pediatrician said to us that he thought that the medicine could have been an acceptable choice, but was used inappropriately. He also noted that warning signs of ototoxicity were ignored and treatment continued while the child was having significant warning signs. He also suspects that the double surgery could also have contributed to the deafness.

We at MMW understand that Gentamicin is a commonly used and useful antibiotic that has probably saved millions of lives worldwide. The ototoxic deafness caused by it is not very common, but is described even in the most basic pharmacology texts. We believe that ototoxicity may have been caused even if the correct dose was used (this is described in Gentamicin prescribing information sheets) but fail to understand why such a large dose was used and why the treatment was continued even when toxicity was noted. Did the doctor not know the dosage? Was this an error in calculating or writing? If an error, why was it not detected by nursing staff? Why were the warning signs ignored?

A useful medicine has been brought to disrepute in this case. It is however, not the medicine that is to blame. Caution is advised in using the medicine in patients with kidney diseases and hearing impairment AND warnings issued about its continued use when toxic signs are noted.

We at MMW feel that the responsibility lies with the prescribing doctor and the institution and hope that the child is compensated appropriately. She has been prescribed treatment that could help bring back hearing, the cost of such treatment should be borne by the state or the institution or doctor that was at fault.

NEWS: Attack on Dr Adil Rasheed

2008-03-06T04:17:00.001-08:00

On 3rd of March 2008 Dr Adil Rasheed, Dermatologist at IGMH, was physically assaulted near Maafannu stadium. We strongly condemn this and other acts of violence.

A witness reported to us that Dr Adil was attacked by 2 young men (the witness suspected them to be druggies) late in the evening as he was walking on the side walk. The two men seemed to have been trying to rob Dr Adil. Dr Adil reportedly resisted and fought the assailants. In the fist fight that ensued Dr Adil was forcefully felled on to the ground. It appeared to our witness that Dr Adil fell on his right shoulder. The assailants apparently fled the scene shouting "bangalhee vageh, bangaalhee vageh" (A Bangladeshi thief, a Bangladeshi thief) when people started to gather around.

Dr Adil was helped on his feet by a by-stander. Dr Adil appeared dazed and not in his senses. Our witness reports having seen Dr Adil in similar altered-senses on several occasions before and suspects that he may have a mental illness. He was taken to IGMH in a taxi.

We can confirm that Dr Adil had significant injuries. His injuries were reported to us as fractured humerus (or a dislocated shoulder). He was discharged after treatment. He is reportedly on leave from hospital and private practice, but is expected to make a full recovery from injuries.

Once again we condemn this and other acts of violence, whether perpetrated against medical services providers or common man. We wish Dr Adil a full and rapid recovery.

Five young men die in Male' last night: Inadequate medical rescue services.

2008-03-02T22:45:00.000-08:00

Last night five young men died in Male following an incident at the Male Fish Market. According to news reports the five men suffocated and died when they descended into a deep "well" for some drilling work last night. It is widely speculated in the media and in rumors that they all died as a result of inhalation of toxic gases in the well.

There is a sense of disbelief in the community as to how such a terrible incident could have happened and so many lives lost in this tragic event. We would like to review the events in light of medical knowledge shared with us by our resident doctors.

Safety at work ignored
It has become apparent that safety issues related to this kind of work were ignored in the incident last night. One man after another descended into a poorly ventilated well in an attempt to rescue the people who were "fainting" once inside the well. It is reported in the media that no safety harness, ladder or other rescue/escape mechanism was in place during the preplanned work.

We realize that the detail related to this are still sketchy and that a proper review is in order to find out why safety measures were not in place. It is our belief that worker safety is ignored in all areas of Maldivian work force. This incident highlights the need for proper planning, including worker safety review when potentially risky work is carried out.

Contacting the rescue services
It has emerged that Maldives Police Services were informed of the incident by witnesses at the site to get aid. A senior MNDF Fire and Rescue personnel complained on national TV that the "real" rescue services (them) were not contacted.

We asked some of our friends about who they would contact in a similar event. The answers we got were not surprising. Most of them said that they would contact MPS or IGMH. The MNDF Fire and Rescue services were mentioned by only one of the 25 people we contacted. This maybe a biased assessment but this highlights one issue. The general public have not been made aware of what emergency service they need to contact in which kind of incident.

This brings us to our argument for the need for a common Emergency Services. Why can't we organize an emergency response service that has teams from various fields (Fire, Rescue, Police, Medical Services) that could be contacted by calling an umbrella Emergency Service?

International practice is to have a single body responsible for Emergency services. They will be comprised of the different teams that will be mobilized to respond to an event. It would them be easier for the common people to know which number to call in an emergency. Much like the 911 service we see on Reality TV.

We also note that the information conveyed at the time of calling the rescue service is vital. If details were not provided by the caller, the person receiving the call should have the sense to keep him or her online and to gather more information till the rescue services could reach the site.

Why couldn't the rescue service reach the site?
We at MMW fail to understand why the MNDF vehicles including their ambulances (yes they do have ambulances) or the Hospital ambulances were unable to reach the site of the event. The vehicles were apparently unable to reach the area because of members of the public gathered around the site as spectators. They stopped 2 blocks away from the site. This is unacceptable.

If the president of the Maldives was to travel any road, at any time, MNDF and MPS would definitely be able to clear roads. Why was this not possible in this incident.

The public are also to blame in this case. There is always a sense of euphoria in Male' when ever something happened and the public gather as spectators. We don't understand why public should, by their own actions, prevent the rescue services from reaching the site. Was this because they were already too late? Not a reason good enough.

The response time, according to reports on national TV was about 30 minutes, far too long for any rescue service! Very slow for a place like Male'.

Why doesn't the Rescue service have medical personnel on the team?
The video footage of the victims being rushed out of the Fish Market on to ambulances (or pick-up trucks) and latter being wheeled into IGMH showed the state of our rescue services.

The victims were clearly in need of resuscitation. Sadly the video footage shown on TVM show the lack of this vital measure. No individual was giving CPR to the victims, a vital intervention that could have proved useful and even life-saving. Doesn't MNDF Fire and Rescue Service personnel have members trained in first-aid? Why wasn't anyone giving mouth to mouth breathing to the victims?

We do realize that we do not have proper medical ambulances or medical response teams, but why weren't medical teams mobilized from IGMH. IGMH has a protocol of responding to external emergencies by sending ER doctor and nurse to the site (even if the protocol is poorly conceived and carried out at best).

If a common Emergency Service hotline was available, the person receiving the call could initiate and mobilize all these services almost instantly.

We are saddened that no person attempted CPR of any sort from the time the victims were removed from the well till they reached IGMH ER. The ambulances, even after knowing that they were responding to a life and death situation, left from IGMH with no equipment or medical personnel. Why?

The video footage shows ambulance drivers and attendants putting victims on IGMH ER beds and one doctor responding to another patient. Why weren't more doctors at the ER? In fact why weren't they or some of them waiting at the gate to receive the victim so as to initiate CPR early?

Common mans word against the MNDF and IGMH
We have seen one common man speaking on TVM saying that he was involved in reviving one patient, who he says was breathing when they reached IGMH. His words are contradicting what Dr Yasir said on TVM and what the MNDF Fire and Rescue service also revealed on TV. They both made inferences that victims were long dead before reaching IGMH.

This highlights the lack of proper medical intervention for the victims from the time of rescue till they reached IGMH. Had there been medical services or someone trained in CPR this may not have happened! We are not sure how effective the layman was in CPR, he has at least done something!

We believe this incident should be reviewed thoroughly and emergency services improved. We highlight these issue and believe these are thinking points:

Worker safety at all situation should be of prime importance. MNDF Fire and Rescue services could play a role in drawing up safety regulations with the Labour ministry. Especially in potentially troublesome work safety measures must be in place before hand.
We believe that a common Emergency Service needs to be established. This service should have an dedicated hotline (3 digit free number like 911, yes why not 911) the number for which should be promoted by a campaign. The people manning the phone lines should be trained in extracting information from callers and if possible should have training that would enable them to advice the caller on immediate measure that could be taken. The caller then should initiate a multi-disciplinary emergency response (involving, where appropriate or in all cases Fire services, Rescue Services, Police services and Emergency Medical service). Emergency medical services should be included!
The rescue teams should be facilitated by the Police services in reaching the site without delay by clearing the roads. Public need to realize that impeding these services is punishable by law.
Until a proper Emergency Service is in place IGMH should utilize its external emergency response plan in assisting rescue missions with medical personnel and equipment. Ambulances responding to acute medical emergencies or incidents with potential acute emergencies should not leave the depot without medical personnel. Equipment should be ready for such dispatch and emergency medical officers ready and able to respond to such a need.
We believe that the medical response to the incident was a disaster. The lack of it is clearly evident on the video footage. IGMH, MNDF and MPS should jointly discuss the issue and identify how and who would be in-charge and running the medical services.

We also believe the families of the victims should be compensated for their loss. No amount of money would be enough, but some reasonable compensation would be useful. The employers who carried out the work should be involved in paying compensation.

Completely unrelated:
Update to newborn who nearly bled to death in Newborn ICU at IGMH: baby is doing well. She (not a he as previously reported) has come off mechanical respirator and is expected to do well.

Accident or negligence?

2008-02-29T08:22:00.001-08:00

We have just received news from a family member of a patient admitted in newborn ICU at IGMH about a terrible accident (?) that has befallen their loved one yesterday. This was a baby who was admitted along with his twin sister 4 days earlier because of premature birth. Family source tells us that baby was reportedly doing very well when something terrible happened.

According to the family member, on 27th February at around 9 in the evening the baby's father was called to the ICU because the baby's condition had worsened suddenly. There was a lot of commotion at that time with doctors and nurses giving various medications to the baby and doctors doing cardiac massage.

It was later revealed to the family that for an unexplained reason the child had bled out from an "un-clamped" central IV line! The doctors were unable to clearly say how much blood was lost and for how long the baby had bled. According to the family member, the baby was "white as snow" when the father saw the child and reportedly baby's heart had stopped beating for sometime.

Dr Shafiu had later explained to the family that there was significant blood loss and that baby had to be given urgent blood transfusion. The father is distraught that such a thing had happened because of carelessness in the ICU. The doctors had said that during the time when child had no heart beat, brain damage may have happened.

The family is also worried that their baby is looked after by a different doctor every day and the explanations by each are different. There seems to be no communication between the various doctors involved. No one person seems to be in-charge and no one seems to be particularly willing to give a reasonable explanation of what and how things happened.

Family is expected to make an official complaint to the IGMH office. They have been asked to wait till the office is open after the long weekend.

We at MMW fail to understand how a central line could be left un-clamped! Why was the bleeding not noted earlier and significant blood loss stopped?

Can this be called just an accident? Does this amount to negligence?

Latest updates:

Baby survived the incident.
As feared, baby has started to have fits.
Today doctors have told family that brain injury is the likely reason for fits.
Family have been warned that baby could be disabled for life with permanent brain damage.

Dhivehi beys: safety and regulations?

2008-02-27T08:40:00.001-08:00

Dhivehi beys, the field of medical practice that has been practiced in Maldives as a traditional form of healing, has been acclaimed by many of its practitioners and critics of modern medicine as a "purist" form of medical therapy. We are sure that there would be many people who would support this argument. We are equally sure that there would be people who would question the legitimacy and effectiveness of current "Dhivehi beys verikan".

The roots of Dhivehi beys are lost to history. However the similarities it shares with homeopathic, ayurvedic and herbal therapy suggests that it is a medical practice derived from a combination of these fields of medicine. Our Dhivehi beys practitioners, especially the ones practicing in Male' seem to have also borrowed practices from modern western medicine as well.

As commented by a visitor, modern medicine has heavily borrowed and derived their drugs and medicaments from early herbal and homeopathic practitioners. They have arguably invested heavily into studying the agents and substances for their properties, characters and effect on the living beings to understand the safety and efficacy of its use in clinical settings. This is perhaps the areas where current Dhivehi beys products and medicaments lag in comparison.

Are "Dhivehi beys verin" doctors? Some of them seem to like the title rather much. One practitioner who has a growing business in Male' at his MM clinic likes to be referred to as doctor. He is to our knowledge not registered in Maldives as a doctor. The Maldives Medical Council answered our call and reported that he was not a doctor. Maldives Medical Association office was closed and their opinion was not available on this issue. The use of this title is of concern as many people might be misled by the title itself. While we do note that neither the clinic nor the prescriptions claim the title "Dr" the fact that the Title is used un-corrected by the clinic staff and patients is a serious concern.

(Other people apparently use the title too without having the necessary qualifications: Dental Hygienists in IGMH and in private practice use the title Doctor in public and therefore cause confusion as being equivalent to much higher trained dental surgeons).

The concoctions that are available from MM clinic are famous as being locally produced and "tested". One "veymui sharbat" is claimed to possess healing for almost all illnesses! None of the clinics products have any side effects; claims the "doctor" according to his patients. This is because they are from natural products. His claim: natural products don't have side effects.

There have been some allegations of misuse of modern pharmaceutical agents in medicaments produced by traditional practitioners. One prominent internal medicine physician from IGMH, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity, alleges that there is concern among his colleagues that a large number of traditional concoctions contain crushed tablets of modern drugs. He specifically mentioned steroids and morphine as being used. He said that he makes these allegation based on observations he has made which included some renal patients showing signs of prolonged steroid use (Cushingoid features) and others showing opiate overdose signs.

These are very serious allegations. It is our wish that authorities look into these allegations as soon as possible.

There are some other very disturbing allegations as well. The doctor quoted his friends in Obstetric practice as having told him about a traditional practitioner in Villingili who carried out per vaginal examination of female patients either by himself or "using the husbands hand" to look for signs of pregnancy or illness! We are unable to verify these claims and therefore have not used the name of the practitioner; we would encourage patients and doctors with information to come forward and confirm the story to our readers, if they are indeed genuine. It is our understanding and belief that the said practitioner has no training in carrying out these delicate examinations and strongly condemn such practices if indeed they are happening.

We have been able to confirm that the traditional practitioner in Villingili is consulted by many young couples struggling to start a family. Some of the patients we spoke to described some treatments that were offered. These included use of herbal and home-made pastes to apply on the genitals, use of different sexual positions and use of disposable syringes to "inject" partners semen into the vagina for "artificial insemination". These techniques have so far, as described by the 2 young couples we spoke to, been unsuccessful in their cases.

We tried to contact Dr Ahmed Razee, who is apparently the chairperson of the "Dhivehi Beys veringe Jamiyyaa" regarding these practices. Unfortunately we have not been able to talk to him to get his reaction or expert opinion. We wonder why HE is the charperson anyway?

We believe that Dhivehi beys has a role to play in our medical system. We do not doubt that it has helped many patients find cures and alleviated of suffering, even in cases where modern medicine has failed to find cures. None the less, we would like to see this branch of medical practice to be more refined. We would like to see the the safety of the "medicaments" and concoctions established through proper scientific studies (and not just by anecdotal evidence).

We cannot afford to be duped by a wayward, unregulated and unsafe traditional medical practices. It is our wish that authorities look into the serious allegations that have been made and make an attempt to regulate this branch of medicine that so many Maldivian are turning to.

Child sexual abuse victims: abused and neglected [edited]

2008-02-22T05:42:00.001-08:00

It was several years ago. I was waiting outside the door to our house waiting for my young daughter to be ready for school. I was considering the route to school that we'd have to take to keep my feet dry as I push my bicycle through the mud-puddled streets when a friend tapped my shoulder and began to tell me about the hot topic of the day. A couple of Maldivian teachers had been caught sexually abusing young girls in their private tuition sessions. To my horror one of them was my daughters teacher; Naseem sir! I was so horrified that I told my wife that our daughter was not going to school for a few days till we could be sure that our daughter was not a victim herself.

There was no help offered either by the school or any organisation to kids like my daughter, to see if they had suffered themselves. No assessment of counseling to help them get over the trauma of listening to stories of their best-friends having been made to do disgusting things by their teachers!

I took my daughter to Central Hospital to get help for her. I thought she needed more than the support we could offer ourselves. I had real fear that my daughter might have been a victim. She had been behaving very differently lately. She easily cried about things that happened at home, she stayed unusually quiet for her usual self, she ate much too little for her mothers liking and she had stopped socialising with her friends. But most frightening of all she had started to make a fuss about having to go to school. All that just a few weeks before the news of Naseem sir and his accomplice's sickening stories became public.

At the hospital there really wasn't anyone to help us. Dr Mohamed Ahmed's name was mentioned to us. We took our daughter to his clinic which used to be house at his residence just across the street from the hospital. He wasn't particularly helpful. He asked us to give our daughter a couple of pills, something to relieve the "transient depressive mood". It probably didn't help, but we followed his instructions carefully. It was years later with our daughter preparing for her O'L exams when she confided in her mother that she was "touched" by her teacher! To our horror, by then the scum-bag was back in Male' and nearly freely going about his life; Our daughters life destroyed by an experience that would almost certainly scar her for life.

It is worrying that the number of reported cases of child sexual abuse in Maldives has been in the rise in recent years. The past few years have seen horrific tales of sexual assault on children of either gender; especially at the hands of those people who are entrusted with their welfare.

I will not be discussing the different cases, why it is on the rise or why the punishment for such terrible crimes is so meager. That needs to be discussed and is one important area of social protection of child welfare that is neglected in Maldives. What I will be touching on, and hoping to open a discussion, is the lack of proper assessment and support mechanisms within our medical services to help those who have been victims of these grave crimes.

The situation has indeed improved since the times of my daughter. A child welfare service is now established at the ministerial level at Gender ministry, child protection services are being decentralised to the atolls, IGMH has established a Family Protection Unit to help improve identification, reporting and early case management and an improvement in the publics understanding of the need to report and seek help.

All that said, our children are still not receiving adequate care and treatment to get over the effects of these atrocities committed against them. Many of these kids are never counseled at all. Their families are not taught about the danger signs that need to be looked for and certainly little if any is done to help kids get back to "being kids" again!

My daughters friend who were subjected to the most severe abuse lost their way in school, were unable to integrate into society and became social outcasts themselves. At least one of them has significant criminal records; especially linked to sexual criminal conduct.

I would be the first to agree that even with the best treatment and care a few children may never return to "normal" childhood, but with little or nothing done the chances are that our unfortunate kids are further "abused" by a system reluctant to invest in proper care for kids under going such traumatic and forever scarring experience.

The carers currently working in the field are too young themselves, having little more than a year of work experience (within our severely inadequate system) with no professional medical or psychological or psychiatric assistance or supervision. Fair enough, a psychologist has recently started clinical work at IGMH and a couple of Psychiatrists do lend their support to the management, but their involvement is insufficient. More than that, their skills and training don't necessarily give them the required skills to actually work in this very sensitive area. There isn't a single child psychiatrist in the country!

There are many areas of need in our health system. Building and expanding ICUs, improving health care provision in the atolls etc...are all important and perhaps even high on the priority list. But with the current trend of increasing child abuse and other forms of domestic violence isn't it time that we get better help available for our kids who do fall prey to Pedophiles in regaining their childhood innocence and providing them a way back to a life that is not scarred?

Report submitted by Mubeen Jaleel.

Child sexual abuse victims: abused and neglected.

2008-02-21T12:39:00.001-08:00

It was several years ago. I was waiting outside the door to our house waiting for my young daughter to be ready for school. I was considering the route to school that we'd have to take to keep my feet dry as I push my bicycle through the mud-puddled streets when a friend tapped my shoulder and began to tell me about the hot topic of the day. A couple of Maldivian teachers had been caught sexually abusing young girls in their private tuition sessions. To my horror one of them was my daughters teacher; Naseem sir! I was so horrified that I told my wife that our daughter was not going to school for a few days till we could be sure that our daughter was not a victim herself.

There was no help offered either by the school or any organisation to kids like my daughter, to see if they had suffered themselves. No assessment of counseling to help them get over the trauma of listening to stories of their best-friends having been made to do disgusting things by their teachers!

I took my daughter to Central Hospital to get help for her. I thought she needed more than the support we could offer ourselves. I had real fear that my daughet might have been a victim. She had been behaving very differently lately. She easily cried about things that happened at home, she stayed unusually quiet for her usual self, she ate much too little for her mothers liking and she had stopped socialising with her friends. But most frightening of all she had started to make a fuss about having to go to school. All that just a few weeks before the news of Naseem sir and his accomplice's sickening stories became public.

At the hospital there really wasn't anyone to help us. Dr Mohamed Ahmed's name was mentioned to us. We took our daughter to his clinic which used to be house at his residence just across the street from the hospital. He wasn't particularly helpful. He asked us to give our daughter a coupleof pills, something to relieve the "transient depressive mood". It probably didn't help, but we followed his instructions carefully. It was years later with our daughter preparing for her O'L exams when she confided in her mother that she was "touched" by her teacher! To our horror, by then the scum-bag was backin Male' and nearly freely going about his life; Our daughters life destroyed by an experience that would almost certainly scar her for life.

It is worrying that the number of reported cases of child sexual abuse in Maldives has been in the rise in recent years. The past few years have seen horrific tales of sexual assault on children of either gender; especially at the hands of those people who are entrusted with their welfare.

I will not be discussing the different cases, why it is on the rise or why the punishment for such terrible crimes is so meager. That needs to be discussed and is one important area of social protection of child welfare that is neglected in Maldives. What I will be touching on, and hoping to open a discussion, is the lack of proper assessment and support mechanisms within our medical services to help those who have been victims of these grave crimes.

The situation has indeed improved since the times of my daughter. A child welfare service is now established at the ministerial level at Gender ministry, child protection services are being decentralised to the atolls, IGMH has established a Family Protection Unit to help improve identification, reporting and early case management and an improvement in the public's understanding of the need to report and seek help.

All that said, our children are still not recieving adequate care and treatment to get over the effects of these atrocities committed against them. Many of these kids are never counselled at all. Their families are not taught about the danger signs that need to be looked for and certainly little if any is done to help kids get back to "being kids" again!

My daughters friend who were subjected to the most severe abuse lost their way in school, were unable to integrate into society and became social outcasts themselves. Atleast one of them has significant criminal records; especially linked to sexual criminal conduct.

I would be the first to agree that even with the best treatment and care a few children may never return to "normal" childhood, but with little or nothing done the chances are that our unfortunate kids are further "abused" by a system reluctant to invest in proper care for kids under going such traumatic and forever scarring experience.

The carers currently working in the field are too young themselves, having little more than a year of work experience (within our severely inadequate system) with no professional medical or pscychological or psychiatric assistance or supervision. Fair enough, a psychologist has recently started clinical work at IGMH and a couple of Psychiatrists do lend their support to the management, but their involvement is insufficient. More than that, their skills and training don't necessarily give them the required skills to acually work in this very sensitive area. There isn't a single child psychiatrist in the country!

There are many areas of need in our health system. Building and expanding ICUs, improving health care provision in the atolls etc...are all improtant and perhaps even high on the priority list. But with the current trend of increasing child abuse and other forms of domestic violence isn;t it time that we get better help available for our kids who do fall prey to Paedophiles in regaining their childhood innocense and providing them a way back to a life that is not scarred?

Announcement

2008-02-18T10:38:00.001-08:00

We at MMW have received several emails requesting that we moderate the comments made in response to our posts. We have noted with disgust that few people who have used severely abusive words in commenting. While we do not condone these acts, we would like to allow free expression of opinions.

We understand that people on both sides of a discussion have much to say. Sometimes emotions run high and language is allowed to deteriorate. We have made a decision that we will be allowing a free hand at commenting at present. We reserve the right to change our stand on this issue at a later time.

It is our request that all individuals who comment on the blog refrain from using foul words. We would appreciate it very much if comments could be made in relation to the post. Kindly self moderate your comments.

Non-affordable health care and a welfare system in ruins? The socially vulnerable left to fend for themselves.

2008-02-14T05:06:00.001-08:00

Thousands of Maldivians apply for welfare assistance in financing essential treatment each year. The exact number and the total expenses have never been revealed by the concerned ministry in all the time it has been providing this social security assistance. Yesterday, 13th of February 2008, we visited IGMH during visiting hours to talk to patients and their relatives about welfare assistance.

Welfare assistance for the poor and needy

More than half of all in patients in the general wards at IGMH are on one or other form of welfare assistance. We counted 7 in ENT ward, 10 in Pediatric ward, 15 in Medical ward and 12 in Surgical ward as being on welfare assistance to pay for health care costs. A large majority of them are truly deserving and needy, while a few of them were individuals from well-to-do families with reasonable ties to powerful figures within the welfare system including the presidential palace, Theemuge.

We asked around and found out that no patient is refused a welfare assistance letter by treating doctors if one is requested by the family. Apparently some doctors, judging the financial capacity of families, even offer to give such a letter if they deem it necessary. Except for a rare few, none of these families are refused welfare assistance by the Ministry of Gender and Social Security either. They are each reportedly entitled to a weeks welfare assistance to cover the cost of hospital bed charges, investigations and medications that are available from STO pharmacy. (Some medications not available at STO have to be purchased by families on their own, at their own expense). This assistance obviously means a lot for the very needy, who still have to spend out of pocket for food and accommodation of patients attenders. The cost for that is terribly high as well.

Only a small minority of the really sick cases get to complete the treatment and leave the hospital during the period when welfare assistance IS available.The majority of them need further assistance and extension of welfare assistance to continue treatment. Ministry of Gender and Social Security is not so willing to continue assistance beyond the initial welfare assistance period. Some patients do get a final 7 days of assistance with the warning that further assistance would not be possible and that applications should not be send after this current period expires.

Some of the very needy patients are therefore left to beg, borrow or steal to continue medical care. Fortunately most people beg or borrow. Private businessmen frequently, but not always, offer a few days of assistance or a lump-sum assistance of a US $ 100 to 200. Whatever they could get is accepted by many, as there really isn't much of a choice for them.

The not-so-needy getting assistance

The heavy expenses of medical care at IGMH and the cost of staying in Male' to assist the patient is much too high for most people to shoulder themselves. With the current welfare system a large number of the not-so-needy people get the assistance that could be best provided for the very needy, who have no other way of supporting the finances of medical care, especially when the course of the illness is long and treatment lengthy.

The families of senior level government officials and well-connected middle level civil servants get welfare assistance on an open budget, mostly thanks to the Theemuge welfare assistance. Surprisingly, these people are often flown out of the country for medical treatment that is available and competently delivered at the local institutions.

The Theemuge welfare budget came under great scrutiny during the recent budget proposal, but sadly our elected (and the unelected) members of the parliament refused to go the distance to merge welfare funds under one body to give better assistance. We do understand that a bigger budget does not necessarily mean better management, that is something that needs to be addressed separately as well.

Medical insurance cover

We have been taken for a ride recently by the authorities with stories of a government medical insurance scheme being in place within a few months. The very public arguments between powerful figures within the government establishment saw the collapse of the process and we are left to fend for ourselves and no closer to a medical cover that possibly would inherently be more fair for the needy.

Again, bickering among political rivals has destroyed an opportunity for the needy to find a way to get medical care in a dignified manner. But the medical insurance scheme would not mean an end to welfare assistance. The social security net would still be important, to ensure that the unemployed, self employed and people with special needs don't fall through the holes in the net.

Identifying the truly needy and assisting them

Who wouldn't want to get something free? Many financially able families currently opt for welfare assistance because it is possible to get that assistance regardless of their own financial capabilities. Everyone gets that assistance, why not them? It is the governments money, kind of their own!

Doing the right things does not seem to be a top priority. Social justice is a challenge.

In this situation a near fool-proof system of identifying the needy is essential. We understand that none of the systems in use in the different developed countries is effective in ensuring 100% uniformity, but the UK and US social security system could be studied to find out what would be a reasonable system for our situation. Professional bodies and organizations that have made a name providing such consultancy maybe sought through the assistance of international donor agencies and a "method" identified for Maldives. That is something that needs more thought and discussion; we have no simple solution. The solution will not be simple we are sure. However, there will be a solution should we try hard enough to find one!

Medical care abroad

With the cost of medical care sky high in Male', many Maldivians including the poor find traveling to neighboring India a financially better option. The cost of traveling to Male' from an island, supporting family members to stay in rented apartments in Male', the cost of food and other personal expenses are all considered to be way to high. The small amount of money, often a life saving, could be wasted in Male' with not that much of a return in terms of improvement of the patients health!

For this reason, even the not-so-well-off families make the decision to travel to India for treatment by much senior doctors, with better medical diagnostic facilities, at a cheaper cost and with less expenses for the caretaker and other family members. This prospect has taken many Maldivians away from IGMH and other medical institutions in Maldives. Most of them probably fare well in India and return, at least in their own opinion, in better health.

Sadly, we must highlight the increasing number of cases where unnecessary treatments, investigations and other expenses have eaten into the limited finances available to family that they return home financially broke, terribly shaken and in worse health than they left in the first place. Illnesses close to spontaneous remission may do so despite the sometimes unnecessary treatment offered; the credit being given to the foreign stationed doctors medical acuity and skill.

Medical care abroad on welfare aid

The welfare assistance for treatment abroad is another area where social justice is at its poorest. The system in place is heavily misused by those entrusted with running it, monitoring it and executing its decision making.

Some very needy patients are refused welfare assistance to go abroad by medical professionals; because they feel that the treatment is possible in Maldives. This even when, reportedly curable and manageable conditions go uncured or uncontrolled for ages. When complication after the other diminishes the doctors and the family's confidence of ever being able to get over the illness.

Some chronic illnesses cannot be properly managed in Maldives (like cancers) and the only rational option is to travel abroad; even when it is for hope alone. Such cases are also refused assistance at various levels of the selection process. Sometimes it is the medical board at IGMH, while at other times even at their insistence the fund issuing agency refuses for no obvious reasons.

Even when the assistance is obtained, the assistance usually does not match the amount of expenses the treatment for which the patient is referred abroad. Regardless of the disease or medical condition, the government assistance is "return ticket for 2 people including patient and US $ 300". A patient going for cardiac surgery, renal transplant, chemotherapy or many other treatment need finances much bigger than this. This would amount to little help in such cases.

In the name of being fair, the Ministry of Gender and Social Security refuses to offer additional funds to special cases, unless of course there is an interest from a high ranking government official, minister or MP. Many patients have had to travel repeatedly, getting treatment in parts and portions because of this. Some have had to cut-short essential treatment and return to wither away and die.

Way forward? or continue direction-less as we do now?

We don't intend to say that we have a solution to all these issues. But we are not ready to give up by saying there is no way to do things properly. There must be a way. A more fair and equitable distribution of welfare assistance for the needy needs to be established.

If we do not see a solution that we can quickly employ, it is paramount that we look for one. An open discussion could throw more light on to how things could be done differently to get better results.

Our representatives in parliament, rather than using sickness in people in their constituency as a tool to "buy" votes, should look at the greater good of the people and work to address the unfairness of the current system, inadequacies in the current system and the lack of auditing, transparency and monitoring of procedures and processes.

I am sure readers have their own opinions on this issue. Have your say. Throw in your ideas.

The essential drug list and health service outlets

2008-02-12T03:58:00.001-08:00

We understand that with the assistance of WHO, senior level health service providers in the Maldives drew up and occasionally update a list of medications and consumables under the broad heading of Essential Drug List. Its been several years since the list was first created and the list has not been updated for a few years now.

The Essential Drug List names medications and consumables that are to be made available, as a prime responsibility of the Ministry of Health, at all health service outlets across the country at all times. These are basic requirements that need to be in place at all centers regardless of the geographical location within the archipelago. Recently we read about several hospitals and health centers running out of medical oxygen. When we were investigating the story we found out that many of the health posts and health centers that we were able to contact, also had some of the essential drugs missing.

Haa Dhaal Maavaidhoo has a health post but no doctor and no medications. The community health worker is unable to manage anything, even under the advice of properly trained doctors who he reaches by phone for assistance. Maavaidhoo health post is left decapitated because of lack of proper health service personnel. The island recently made the news in Maldives when few of its residents protested against the health conditions on the island.

Haa Alif Ihavandhoo has a health center and 2 small pharmacies managed by local businessmen. Recently, patients had to be transfered to Haa Dhaal Kulhudhufushi and Haa Alif Dhihdhoo because the doctor in the island said that he was unable to treat the cases because he had nothing more than Penicillin injections and some over the counter pain medications available for use. One case of epilepsy was transfered because they ran out of Diazepam. No routine anticonvulsant therapy was available.

We can also confirm that in moth Raa Alifushi and Rasgatheemu the health posts were until recently running on very little amount of medications. An asthmatic in Alifushi was referred to Ungoofaaru regional hospital because there was no ventolin in the island. The elderly patient had been keeping a stock of his own medications but ran out just at the time when his asthma had worsened. He survived the attack and has brought back a good stock of ventolin with him to Alifushi. Ventolin is listed on the Essential Drug List.

One young doctors from Alif Alif Rasdhoo atoll hospital reported to us that he and his colleagues receive calls from nearby islands when they are requested to take charge of cases because the doctors in the health centers don't have simple antibiotics to manage infections. The doctor fears that even mentioning his gender endangers him being identified as there are only four doctors working there including a gynecologist.

In Thaa Atoll Burunee the recently upgraded health center also reported a dire lack of medications and IV fluids. Sporadic cases of Dengue fever are seen in the island, especially among the Tsunami refugees. Not having IV fluids of the type needed in Dengue, the station doctor was unable to manage cases as best as possible.

These are some cases where we were able to identify issues of availability of even the essential drugs for basic health services. We wonder how many other islands and health centers would have similar problems. Even maintaining a supply of medications that MoH itself has declared as basic necessities for health service provision is not guaranteed.

We are also concerned about the lack of health service providers in a large number of islands. We do understand that MoH has made a renewed commitment to ensure that doctors are placed in many of these previously neglected island. This is promising, however, it comes to us as no surprise that many of the doctors currently working in the islands are mere novices who graduated from basic medical training less than 6 months before joining the Maldivian health sector! Their ability to work exclusively on their own in the very demanding conditions is highly questionable. This compounded with lack of medications and investigative capabilities leaves them and the public exposed to sad outcomes that we often hear about.

We ask the public to pressure the authorities to ensure that a basic health service guideline be established and minimal standard of health services to be provided to the islands be established. The Essential Drug List needs to be updated and provisions kept in place to ensure that all health facilities including the very basic ones have a ready supply of these medications.

Young girl spends 3 years at IGMH ICU......and counting

2008-02-10T09:17:00.001-08:00

This was a case that we stumbled upon when Shizu was investigating Sharaf's story about little Mishka.

A 20 year old young Maldivian girl will soon be marking 3 years of stay at IGMH ICU. This is in contrast to the many cases that reach ICU for their last rites. We at MMW find this young girls story a unique one that we feel must be shared. We will call her Aish, not her real name.

Aisha was reportedly admitted to IGMH about 3 years ago with a medical condition that caused progressive paralysis of her muscles that led to an inability to breathe on her own. Since admission to ICU she has remained on artificial mechanical respirators to breathe and stay alive. Her doctors and family realize that her condition is probably beyond medical cure and that she will need the same kind of care for the rest of her life. It is hard for any person with an able body to comprehend what it would be like to be unable to move a single muscle in their body. For Aisha, who was a very able and active young girl in her hay days, this must be terribly difficult. When most medical and allied health services have given up on her making a miraculous recovery, Aisha fights on. She has been able to do that with a lot of help along the way, but nonetheless she has done that, and is doing that as you read this.

Unlike most of our reports this story has a very strong positive side to it. One that we decided we will not ignore. The survival of this young girl is a true tribute to the dedication and commitment of her care givers. That will be the IGMH ICU nurses and the doctors of the Internal Medicine department who take pride in looking after her. It goes without saying, someone who has been on artificial mechanical respirator would have had several complications along the way. Aisha has had her fair share of them. She has however been strong enough, and the help she received from her carers good enough to see her through them. We have decided not to dwell on the negatives surrounding her medical condition, that would be something we would leave for some other time, perhaps on a different case. However, if you believe this story is all good, we would caution you on making that assumption far too easily.

Aisha's room in the ICU is very different from the rest of the rooms at IGMH ICU. She has ornaments hanging from the ceiling, has cable TV well placed for her to see, even if she can't move her head. Her personal, private ICU room is indeed very cozy. She clearly deserve all this and perhaps more. We are all for it.

IGMH ICU is a small ICU. It has 8 beds in 6 cubicles. We hear of several patients being moved in too late to ICU because time had taken to get the bed vacant. We also hear of patients being moved out of ICU far too quickly than the treating doctor would prefer. These are all constraints from having to manage an increasing patient number in a limited bed capacity ICU.

We at MMW believe that an ICU expansion and extension at IGMH has been over due for at least 15 years. We were dumbstruck when about a year ago IGMH built a waiting area just adjacent to the ICU without using that space for extension of the overcrowded ICU. We are sure that most clinicians at IGMH would have felt the same. The delay in initiating an extension has probably cost the Maldivian people many lives that could potentially have been saved had an ICU bed been available. Sharaf may not have had to endure the agony of loosing little Mishka.

Aisha does deserve the best care available. Could IGMH provide that care outside of the crowded ICU? They probably could. Aisha needs to be able to interact with her loved ones and experience more than the ICU environment, a place that is traditionally crawling with bacteria of all sorts. Real nasty ones too. In the ICU she gets mechanical artificial respirators to give her breaths, this could be given in a special private room if the power supply and gas supply connections are available. She would need close nursing care; this could be provided by having a shift nurse in the room. Most of her nursing care currently revolves around keeping her clean, giving her medications, moving her position to prevent bed sores and giving her feeds. We believe that this could be delivered even in a private room like those they have in the executive private ward. So why not? Why not free up ONE ICU bed? Why not remove Aisha from a location that harbors disease causing bacteria that could arrest her chances of a miracle recovery? Why not allow her to be in a place where her family could spend time with her at their will?

Will freeing ONE bed from ICU mean anything? It probably could mean a lot. It would mean an increase in available bed capacity of over 10%!

Will such a move be resisted by her family? Well the safety of being cared for by the same people who have kept her alive for this long maybe something the parents would fear of losing.

How about the cost of keeping Aisha in ICU? We know that government chips in at times to pay her hospital bills, but the true cost of keeping her in ICU would be a lot more than that. Would perhaps the cost be less in a modified room?

We propose that IGMH admin considers moving Aisha, to a dedicated room outside of ICU where she could be guaranteed the same level of care that she currently needs, she really does not need intensive care right now.

Increasing bed capacity by 1 bed would be too little to make a realistic impact. We believe that MoH and IGMH should consider expanding the ICU to at least double its current capacity and also provide for a place to care for cases like Aisha and those who are being down-graded from intensive care.

We wish Aisha a miraculous recovery. We wish her family all the best and hope that their prayers would be answered.

Update: Both mother and baby in the latest reported case improve and come off life support.

2008-02-09T01:57:00.001-08:00

Both baby and mother who were in critical conditions in intensive care at IGMH have improved and come off life support.

The baby's condition is reported as "stable with no evidence of asphyxia or brain injury" and although still being managed in the newborn ICU is reported to be making a full recovery. This comes as a relief for both parents and doctors. We can confirm that the baby was on artificial respirator for about 24 hours when 2 days ago baby was "weaned" off the machine. The initial communication that parents received from the doctor who was in charge of the case at that stage, Dr Vikas Bopache, was that baby has severe asphyxia (a condition in which the brain suffers damage from lack of oxygen) and that there was a strong likelihood of baby developing fits. This fear has now been removed by the new team of doctors looking after the baby; who say that there are no signs to suggest such a possibility.

The father was visibly relieved when our source saw him in the Obstetric ward. He was telling the people around him that he was happy at the progress and very publicly praised the doctors for their efforts.

In more good news for the father, the child's mother has also improved in leaps and bounds since her admission to ICU after delivery. Apparently, doctors from the internal medicine department got involved in the case on the request of a family doctor, Dr Zumra. It is believed that, with their experience in handling cases corrupted by other departments, they were able to get the patient to safe territory. The last update we got was that the mother had come off mechanical respirator, was shifted out of ICU, did not require to have the uterus removed (bleeding did get controlled finally) and was in a special private room at the expense of the hospital.

The case was reportedly reviewed by the hospital administration and some statement is expected in the coming few day. We believe that IGMH will not make a public statement but expect the family to be briefed about their findings.

Blood transfusion stand-off:

Rumors have been circulated around the hospital that the father had refused transfusion of any blood other that his own to his wife when she was in a critical condition. This rumor is false. We can confirm that the issue of blood transfusion arose well before the patient was taken for C section. Apparently the hospital has a new donor policy (that is reportedly in accordance with international red cross's own donor policy) that blood will be collected from donors and then cross-match done. The father was asked to get a donor while the patient was in the ward for "monitoring". He had himself volunteered. At the blood bank he was asked to donate the blood first and told that cross-matching would be done after the full blood pint was collected. This father did not want to have a pint of blood removed from him IF it was not going to be used for his wife. This was where the misunderstanding started.

Because of his religious beliefs, he is a devout muslim, "who takes pride in looking like a true muslim", he didn't want blood of someone whose character and health was unknown to himself to become the donor. He was counselled on this issue by doctors and his views on the issue changed. MMW supports non-renumerated blood donation and wold take this opportunity to call on the blood bank to inform the public on the benefits of this system of donation.

The father had not refused transfusion as a life saving treatment for his wife.

We wish the family a speedy recovery. We hope that the father and family is given support in overcoming this intensely traumatic experience.

Note: MMW does write on issues and events that are happening outside of IGMH. Check our archives for them. We will however not wander away from an event like this where interest of the patient were given secondary importance. If any reader feels that we have presented a false case, feel free to have your say! We are witness to many sad stories that have happened in our health system and would like to make it very clear that we will report these kinds of events; not to destroy IGMH or the health system but to let them know that these events will not go unheard. We too want to see a reliable and trustworthy health system and hospitals, but we have remained calm and waited for the administrative bodies to do the right thing for far too long. We shall not stay quiet as we did before. We shall pressure the authorities to bring good change. For all our sake!

Another baby and mother in critical condition at IGMH

2008-02-07T02:00:00.001-08:00

For the second time in a week, a baby and mother are in critical condition at IGMH. This comes to us as no surprise because the IGMH administration has successfully swept all cases of neglect and maltreatment under the carpet ever since its inception. The perpetrators of these criminal dealings are high and mighty, well protected by the senior administrator.

On 5th of February a mother with 4 previous kids was admitted to IGMH because of premature contractions and signs of early labor. It was still a couple of weeks till the declared expected date of delivery. She was kept in hospital with apparently no monitoring or treatment other than a few routine jabs and pokes by doctors and nurses on "rounds".

On the night of the 6th of February 2008, she started to have severe bleeding from her birth canal. After several attempts at getting the attention of the nursing staff in the ward, finally after nearly an hour of waiting the on duty junior doctor came, saw the patient and advised her to be transfered to delivery room. A scan was done which reportedly showed that the placenta was low lying. After the unusually long delay of about 3 hour, the mother was shifted to the operation theater for emergency C section. Our source confirms that the baby's heart rate had dropped to dangerously low levels during this time.

The obstetrician struggled at C section in getting the baby out of the unusually small incision that was given. After much struggling and wasting precious few minutes for the baby, the incision was extended and baby forced out. The attending pediatric doctor was able to revive the baby after about 15 minutes of resuscitation but baby had trouble breathing well by itself. Baby was transfered to the newborn ICU and connected to an artificial breathing apparatus (ventilator). The baby reportedly is in a critical condition, still requiring assistance with breathing, but the pediatric doctors are apparently confident that the baby would recover enough to come off respiratory support in a few days time. The family was however warned that baby could have significant brain damage caused by lack of oxygen during labor and because of the delay in extracting the baby at C section. It was informed to family that baby was likely to have fits too.

The C section was more eventful than described above. After the baby was forced out of the womb, due to an unreported reason (most probably an injury concealed by doctors) the mother started bleeding heavily from the uterus. The obstetric surgeon struggled to stop the bleeding. Over on hour passed with the mother bleeding heavily on the operating table. Finally after a back-up obstetrician arrived to assist with the surgery, the bleeding was stopped. By then the mothers condition had severely deteriorated. Mother continues to fight for her life in the ICU on artificial breathing by a ventilator.

A huge commotion was reported at IGMH overnight apparently relating to some minor detail in arranging blood for the mother, who obviously needed urgent transfusion.

The damage-control and cover-up apparatus at IGMH headed by Dr Fathmath Ali Didi is reportedly in hyper-drive coming up with stories to hide the details of the negligent acts committed in this case.

With this second obstetric bungle the publics confidence in IGMH in effectively managing safe birthing is lost. The authorities are still doing everything they can to hide facts rather than review the processes to make health care safer.

Dr Solih, your staff are killing and maiming our people. Act to save us.

The cover up has begun.

2008-02-06T10:00:00.001-08:00

This is nothing new. We all expected that this would indeed happen. Our sources at IGMH have reported that a secret closed-door meeting was held today at 8am at IGMH headed by the corrupt Dr Fathmath Ali Didi to plan a cover up story for the events in the labour room that led to the newborn baby dying.

This was reportedly a meeting that involved the chief nursing staff from labor room, obstetric doctors and a couple of lady pediatricians. Our source reports that the meeting went on for nearly 2 hour. This meeting was apparently in preparation for a meeting that was to be held with the family of the deceased baby.

It is our belief, and that of our analysts, that a certain official "the way that things actually happened" would have been created to ensure that parents are misled into believing that normal procedures were followed in the delivery process and the delivery itself wasn't the cause of death. They were expected to inform the parents that there were congenital abnormalities in the baby that caused the death and that it was unpreventable. That would be an IGMH-styled review of mortality and morbidity.

We were able to confirm that the meeting with the parents was going to happen today. Although we can't confirm that the meeting actually took place; it was expected at around 12 noon today.

We spoke to one private practitioner in Male'. He tell us that he expects the review process to yield nothing less than a total denial of responsibility in this case. This, he said was what IGMH have done after reviewing all previous cases.

We have been unable to speak with the family directly to get their views, but have read their views on some of the daily newspapers. The 35 yr old mother is reportedly in a stable condition in the general ward and according to doctors is expected to make a full recovery from her injuries.

Mother and baby in critical condition following "assisted delivery" at IGMH

2008-02-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

Following a special "assisted delivery" at IGMH labour room in the early hours of sunday (3rd Feb 08) morning a mother and her baby are in a critical condition at IGMH. The mother, reported to us as a 35 year old first time mother who was past the due date for delivery, was admitted to IGMH for induction of labour.

We are able to confirm that both mother and baby are in intensive care following the use of a technique of delivery that is banned in modern obstetric practice. Apparently the maneuver is commonly employed at IGMH labour room by senior obstetricians, to bring about delivery of the babies where mothers have poor effort in pushing the baby out by herself. What is surprising is that a good number of nurses are also taught to use the technique at the labour room by the senior obstetricians. The maneuver includes applying excessive force on the upper part of the abdominal wall, over the fundus of the uterus, thus virtually squeezing the uterus between the mothers spine and the hands (and sometimes the arm and elbow) of the person applying the maneuver. This is apparently called "fundal pressure" a maneuver that is known to cause uterine injury, fetal cervical injuries, fetal cerebral hemorrhages, and significant other birth injuries such as Erb's palsy, fractured clavicle and major trauma to internal organs of both mother and baby.

In this case, a vacum machine was used to pull the baby out of the birth canal by attaching a suction cup to the baby's head and pulling on a cord attached to the cup. This is also a potentially harmful procedure, but one that is an accepted obstetric maneuver to effect delivery when the labour is prolonged and baby's condition deteriorating. In addition to the vacum application, nursing staff and obstetric doctors alternated in exhausting their stamina and strength in giving fundal pressure. The mother was subjected to this physical torture when the case could, and probably should, have been taken for a cesarean section delivery.

As would be expected from this extremely dangerous and traumatic process, the baby was born in a terrible condition. Even the senior pediatric doctor who was at the site could not revive the baby to a normal state. After a long attempt the almost dead baby was transfered to the new Newborn ICU for life support. The baby was in a critical condition when we got our last update; having found to have severe cerebral edema, intracranial bleed, seizures, pneumothorax and just barely hanging onto life. We were told that the baby could pass away any minute and that there wasn't much the doctors could do to avert such an end.

To add insult to injury, the family had to endure a grave turn of events for the mother as well. Apparently due to the excessive force used by the obstetrician and nursing staff in applying fundal pressure, the mother sustained injuries to her uterus and internal blood vesels. She had bleeding into her abdominal cavity and had to be taken up for emergency surgery to patch-up the injuries sustained in the traumatic birthing process. She remains in a critical condition in the adult ICU at IGMH, also fighting for her life.

The family is outraged at the horrific treatment they have recieved at the hospital with some members of the family unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation.

MMW understand that this "fundal pressure" maneuver has been a routine practice at IGMH since the department was taken over by the current head of department Dr Rabo Chako. We have also been told that a huge argument had broken up between the pediatric doctors and the obstetric doctors over the way this case was handled. We recieved reports that some angry pediatric doctors have demanded to have the case revieved, the "fundal pressure" maneuver banned and some accountability established for these cases.

MMW learnt today that some of the nurses who were at the delivery were so traumatised themselves at the sight of a grown person virtually jumping up and down on the mothers pregnant abdomen that they left the delivery room in protest.

These kinds of inhumane, unethical and potentially traumatic practices must be stopped and internationally acceptable practices established at IGMH. We call on the Maldives Medical Council, IGMH, MoH and other concerned authorities to investigate this case and bring those responsible to account. Dr Solih must take steps to get his house in order or leave the job to someone who can manage to acieve that.

The Maldivian Medical Association in a crisis

2008-02-04T05:55:00.001-08:00

The bi-election held on 2nd February 2008 to fill the post of President of the association, left vacant following the shock resignation of Dr Abdulla Niyaf in October 2007, has failed to elect anyone for the post. The results of the election are on display in the lift lobby of IGMH and shows Dr Didi (Dental Didi) failing to get the required number of votes to get elected. Dr Didi reportedly got less than 40% of the vote. Incidentally, Dr Niyaf was elected to the post by a 100% of the electorate.

We are made to understand that Dr Niyaf had handed in his resignation in October 2007, during his now infamous suspension from IGMH (along with his close friend and colleague Dr Ismail Shafeeu) for standing up for the rights of the patients and expressing concerns regarding the way Dr A C Bhagwat was treating pediatric in-patients at IGMH. A close friend of Dr Niyaf, who himself has refused to discuss the issue any further, told us that in his resignation letter Dr Niyaf had expressed that he no longer wished to continue to represent certain elements within the association who were working to harm him, his career and his family's well-being. This is believed to be a reference to Dr Mohamed Solih, Dr Fathmath Ali Didi and Dr Mohamed Firdous, who in addition to being members of the association are senior administrator of IGMH. It is believed by many that the suspension was a means of silencing Dr Niyaf and harming his reputation as a leader. Unfortunately, his resignation seemingly has achieved the target set by the administrative elements.

Many of the senior members of the association claim that the association was left in this state because Dr Niyaf had been too hasty in handing in his resignation. Many of his colleagues and the public blame internal hospital politics and dirty tactics by IGMH admin in the suspension of Dr Niyaf that had led to him abandoning the association.

Following Dr Niyaf's resignation, many of the projects of MMA have been left abandoned. Their website remains un-updated and their publications "beys-sitee" and "Prescription" have failed to get further editions to print either.

Dental Didi's failure at the elections is being viewed by many members of the association as a huge blow to the credibility of the association. The association has lost it voice in recent months, failing to carry out any activity or projects in that time. The influence it has on the health sector seems to be at an all-time low. Even the "group of concerned doctors" the unofficial pressure group of the association has apparently disbanded.

The Maldivian Medical Association is an important NGO and a fellow watch-dog that needs to regroup to ensure that medical profession is free from undue influences, doctors return to professionally sound ethics in their practice and that the rights of the patients and doctors are protected. We look forward to a resurrected MMA that gains back the trust of the public and the professionals who are its members.

We urge the elected members of the governing body of the association to revive the vital body, get its members united and return to working on changing the system that is sick to the bone and on its death bed.

NB: We would like to congratulate Dr Ashraf (Urologist) for securing enough votes to win the seat of treasurer.

1st Dengue Death for 2008 ?

2008-01-28T23:42:00.001-08:00

A 7 year old girl, native to HDh. Hanimaadhoo, living in Male' has passed away within a few hours of arriving at IGMH Emergency Room (ER) from what is believed to be Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever with Shock.

A family member, who wish to remain anonymous, was contacted by our team on 27th January for details of what had happened. Our informer was clearly unhappy with what had transpired at IGMH and at home in the lead up to the child's death.

According to our informer 7 year old Ifaasha was first taken to IGMH ER on 25th of January because of fever for two days and severe vomiting with a very severe abdominal pain. Unfortunately, Ifaasha was taken to the hospital by a relative who did not know the details of her illness. Our informer suspects that this probably was one reason for the sad end to the story. In the ER, Ifaasha was seen by a junior doctor and given an injection for vomiting and sent home on Panadol doses for fever. Our informer reports that not much attention was given to Ifaasha's history and that she was rushed out of the ER and sent home without a full examination or investigations.

We were able to talk to 2 doctors, who also spoke to us on the condition of anonymity, from IGMH ER who gave a different version of events. According to the doctors, Ifaasha was brought to the ER by a distant relative who gave a history of fever for less than one day and abdominal pain. At examination, they report that, Ifaasha had no abdominal pain and the fever was mild. The rest of the examination was normal according to the doctors. This was the reason, they claim, that Ifaasha was sent home without any investigations. MMW notes why history was not taken from Ifaasha herself. She was big and mature enough to give a full history herself. The doctors reported to us that Ifaasha went home well on the 25th january and that the family was advised to bring the child back if there were any other problems.

Our informer reports to us that since returning home, Ifaasha continued to complain of severe abdominal pain. He also reported that after a few hours of returning home the vomiting had become worse and Ifaasha was unusually weak and sleepy. The parents however, did not worry much as they were assured by the ER doctors that what Ifaasha was having was Gastritis (gas- vaige undhagoo).

On the 26th January, less than 24 hours of the first visit to ER, Ifaasha fainted at home and looked really sick. Her mother, now concerned for Ifaasha's life rushed her to IGMH ER. When they arrived in ER for the second time, our informer reports that, Ifaasha was conscious but clearly very weak. She was made to lie in a bed and a junior doctor examined her while a nurse checked her blood pressure. Our informer reports to us that, his impression was that Ifaasha was too pale; "death pale" he had said.The ER doctors and the nurses then quickly swarmed around her and got an IV going. One of the doctors talked to the mother and said that they were unable to get Ifaasha's blood pressure and that they felt that Ifaasha was bleeding somewhere within her abdomen.

The ER doctors reported to us that Ifaasha was received in ER on 26th in shock with no recordable BP and was extremely pale. They suspected internal hemorrhage and tried to get urgent blood for transfusion.

In about 20 minutes of arrival in ER, Ifaasha was reportedly seen by a Pediatrician [Dr Sunil] and advised to be transferred to ICU for management of suspected Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever with Shock and hemorrhage.

Our informer reports that when transferred to ICU, Ifaasha was almost dying. He had himself lost all hope.

Within a couple of hours of Ifaasha being transferred to ICU she died from bleeding into her lungs and intestines. She had blood coming out of her mouth, when our informer last saw Ifaasha alive.

The ER doctors reported that Ifaasha may have been saved if they had blood available for immediate transfusion, blood bank was out of stock of O- blood. They also said that the history given to them on the second visit; fever for more than 4 days, had not matched with the first history given on 25th. This was the reason why investigations were not done on first visit, and diagnosis missed.

We were told by family members that that they accept the efforts of the doctors on the 26th of January, as they did everything they could to save Ifaasha. They were however, very bitter about the way Ifaasha was managed on the 1st visit. They felt that, a proper examination and investigations could have save Ifaasha.

One nurse from ICU reported to us that even at the time of death, no reports were available to confirm what Ifaasha had died from. The lab had taken too long to give the results. She told us that the reports, although not 100% diagnostic, were highly suggestive of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever with internal bleeding.

Could this death have been avoided? Has the hospital started an internal evaluation into how the case was handled? Has the family been given a good enough explanation of what had occurred? When would IGMH administration consider setting up a mechanism to evaluate mortalities and major morbidities promptly, even if a complaint is not lodged? [Dr Solih repeatedly disconnected our call and as usual Dr Yasir is unavailable for comment].

Was this really the 1st Dengue death for the year?

Update:

1. Our informer reports that the family are considering sending a letter to IGMH and MoH to complain against the way the case was handled.

2. Over heard by an IGMH staff: The case is being discussed by the Department of Pediatrics and ER to see if case could have been handled differently. Initiative taken by Dr Zumra, not by hospital administration. The process is not likely to yield a report.

3. The lab reports were not delayed in the lab? Our sources at the hospital confirm that the samples were sent to the lab late, reports were generated as urgent, delay in collecting reports by ICU to blame for delayed availability of reports to treating doctor. MMW: with the new database system at IGMH, is it still not possible to view lab reports from ICU and other intensive care areas? When will this happen? Would having the reports available change the treatment?

4. Reports: we showed the report values to our team: thrombocytopenia, severe anemia, elevated liver leaked enzymes are all suggestive of DHF; and based on the clinical course: DHF with Shock and Hemorrhage are plausible diagnoses.

5. Case reported to DPH, officially, as a case of Dengue. DPH sources confirm that if proven (an internal review at IGMH is expected) this would indeed be the first Dengue death for the year. Our DPH source also reports that there is a small but significant increase in the number of cases of Dengue being reported in the past 1 month.

Life saving surgery?

2008-01-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

This report is based on an unpublished article written by a Maldivian doctor stationed overseas reporting on an incidence that happened at IGMH. We received the article from Minivan News reporter who wishes to remain anonymous. The article was refused publication by the Minivan News Editorial team for unknown reasons despite the Minivan News reporter confirming authenticity of the events.

In October 2007 a baby born at IGMH was diagnosed to have Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, a condition in which the muscular sheath (diaphragm) separating the abdominal cavity from the thoracic cavity has a defect in it that allows intestinal loops and other abdominal content to herniate into the thoracic cavity. The condition is potentially life-threatening as the intestinal loops in the thoracic cavity would occupy the space that would otherwise have been occupied by the lungs. Depending on the severity of the herniation, the lungs could be compressed preventing respiratory functions.

The baby was admitted to the Neonatal ICU where investigations confirmed the diagnosis. The child remained stable even with the potentially life threatening internal deformity.

Cases of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia have been diagnosed at IGMH in the past as well. Reportedly, in the past 3 years, none of the previous cases had died. The procedure that was followed over the 3 years referred was to stabilize the patient and have them transfered to Trivandrum or Colombo accompanied by Pediatric doctors. Reportedly, in 2007 a total of 4 babies were transfered for varying surgical and severe medical conditions (including one with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia) under medical care of a Pediatrician. They all survived.

IGMH does not have a Pediatric surgeon. Neither does it have a general surgeon with enough expertise and experience is surgeries of the newborn. This is not to say that a general surgeon would be unable to undertake any life-saving surgeries at IGMH for newborn surgical conditions.

The baby in this case was in a stable medical condition, Pediatric orders for referral abroad were made and discussed with parents when the case was seen by Dr Mohamed Firdous and his puppet team of surgeons. He clearly wanted to "have a go" to see if he could add "did a correction of CDH" to his resume'. To make this possible, the parents were misinformed by the surgeon and a new Pediatric Head of Department Dr A.C. Bhagwat that the child was in a critical state and that unless surgery was done urgently child would die!

Left with no choice, the parents consented to surgery. The relatives were made to sign a "high-risk" surgery consent form. Clearly; a common practice by all surgical specialties at IGMH, attempting to reduce liability.

Details of surgery are sketchy. Surgery was done by Dr Firdous himself. Documents were never given to parents; they were given just a Death Certificate. MMW was able to confirm from IGMH theater staff that the child arrested during the surgery and could not be revived. However, on the orders of Dr Firdous, death was not declared. The lifeless body of the baby was transfered back to Newborn ICU and connected to a mechanical ventilator.

To our shock, we were told that the lifeless baby (no cardiac activity, breaths given by machine) was kept on "life support" for several hours before declared dead. The parents were lied to and the truth of the events hidden. The surgeons shamelessly declared the surgery a success; claiming to have repaired the diaphragm!

The way patients condition was mis-informed and parents misled before the surgery, during surgery and following surgery (surgical death) the parents had no way of understanding the grave injustice that was done to them. They weren't even aware of the devious scheme. Dr Firdous's misadventure, on this occasion and certainly on several previous occasions, were covered up by IGMH.

The case, as was done for previous cases, should have been transfered abroad when the child was in a stable condition.

Note: MMW was informed by the Minivan News reporter that parents were advised on possible legal action that could be taken.

Chaos and confusion at IGMH!

2008-01-20T03:55:00.000-08:00

It was a particularly busy day at IGMH today. The IPD atrium was filled with people of all ages. It appeared as if something was going down at the hospital. Something big.

We had arrived at the hospital at around mid-morning with a friend who was scheduled to consult a doctor at the OPD. Incidentally, a dead body was brought to IGMH by the Maldives Police Services and there was a buzz around the place. Had we not waited a while longer, we would have sworn that everyone was talking about the Bagladeshi national who had apparently taken his own life. We did wait and so did we find out that the story on everyones lips was different. The muffled sounds were for something entirely different.

Yes, IGMH had begun introducing their new patient database and the registration process was causing a few glitches. The crowd at the counters were very well-mannered and patient. They were warned of possible delays and inconveniences. All the counters and service stations were very slow in delivering the services. There was chaos like never before. Everyones patience was tested.

Surprisingly, but thankfully, the vast majority of the people bore the difficulties, accepted the delays and cooperated in the difficult and time consuming process. If the new system was going to make things better in the days to come they were apparently willing to wait patiently for now.

The second ID attempt.

2008-01-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

News:

IGMH administration has announced that they will be introducing shortly a patient identification card that would expedite the provision of services to its clients. Any attempt by the hospital administration to improve the speed of service delivery must be acknowledged as a positive change.

We are nonetheless a bit more apprehensive in celebrating the story prematurely. We are reminded of a system of patient identification cards that failed 5 years ago. If implemented this would be the 3rd time IGMH is attempting to introduce patient identification cards.

At the time when IGMH started its services, well before the official inauguration, every patient was given an ID card and files of patient data were stored in the OPD appointment station. The system seemed to be going well during the pilot phase until the number of files increased and maintaining physical files became virtually impossible for the staff. That experience failed and the patient ID cards were phased out and maintaining individual patient records abandoned. Shifa, the first patient database of IGMH was thus abandoned.

Then in 2001-2002 IGMH again attempted to introduce another ID card system to coincide with the launching of their new patient and medical records database; a ready made and exorbitantly costly medical records database software that was superficially customized for IGMH. The ID cards this time were printed -in blue and white- at the time of registering for services at the OPD or IPD counters. The non-laminated pieces of paper carrying the identification information were easily damaged and lost. The system crashed in 2005 when the patient database got overloaded.

At present the system is riddled with multiple hospital medical record numbers allocated for every single patient. Every time a patient visits the OPD clinics he is given a different "hospital number"! Every time the patient reaches the casualty he is also given a different "hospital number". This has led to some of the more frequent visitors to IGMH having up to a hundred, or even more, hospital numbers!

The only area where the records tally a bit better is the inpatient medical records where thankfully patient records carry the same hospital number; allowing for retrieval of old files for reference where needed. This is not easy because of the poor filing system employed, nonetheless it is possible.

We hope that the new ID card system is a well planned system where the problems and difficulties of the past are addressed. For the new ID cards to be successful the medical records database has to be purged of the excessive, and potentially confusing data generated over the past 3 years.

It is our hope that the new ID cards would indeed improve service provision at IGMH. We urge Dr Mohamed Solih and those under his leadership to bring about changes that are more than cosmetic. Unless the actual medical services are improved, the institution fails to deliver.

Information on the past experiences of IGMH provided by an ex-IGMH IT staff who was witness to the events that are described herein.

Report filed by Huzam Ali

Self-medicating on Pethidine; an anesthetists story.

2008-01-11T14:57:00.001-08:00

We were alerted to the story by a patient who underwent surgery at Hulhumale' Hospital. This story is shocking.

Athif (not real name) was admitted for surgery (details withheld as these minor details may be easily used for identifying our source) sometime last year. After the surgery had finished, and declared a success, Athif regained consciousness to the agony of excruciating pain at the surgical site. His family members who were with him asked the expatriate nurse on duty whether any medication could be given for the pain. Her blunt answer was "NO". Pressed for a reason, she reported that "very strong pain medication" was given at time of surgery and that more doses cannot be used.

After what Athif described to us as "ages" the nurse arrived at the bedside with a special prescription, described to us as "a bluish thin, foil-like piece of paper with a stamp" {we understand this to be controlled drug prescription} and asked his family member to buy "this injection". The injection was bought and taken to the nurse, who took it and placed inside a locked cupboard. Athifs' family member surprised that the medication was not being prepared to be given to Athif asked the nurse why she was not giving the injection to the patient. The nurse informed that it was a "replacement" for the pain medicine given in theater. The medicine we later found out was Pethidine; a morphine derivative.

Hours after surgery, the pain had apparently become unbearable and Athif was, he told us, begging his family members to do something for him. At that time the nurse at the counter was a Maldivian. The girl received an earful from the family that day. Her response was an accusation, one that we have now proved as the truth. The anesthetist apparently uses the Pethidine to inject himself, while injecting plain water to the patient!!!

Communicating with Athif via email, we were able to identify the Maldivian nurse who made the accusation. When we approached her for information, she initially refused to talk to us. We had to convince her that this was something that needs to be told if we were to improve things at Hulhumale' Hospital. She agreed, on the condition of anonymity.

The nurse told us, in person, that the hospital administration including the in-charge, Mr Mohamed Yousuf Fulhu, was aware of the practices of the new Anesthetist. She told us that she believed that Fulhu had already reported the issue to the Minister and Dr Sheena. Apparently, everyone at the top level at DMS and MoH was aware of this before the staff of Hulhumale' Hospital. The anesthetist was previously working in another island hospital, where similar things had been reported.

The nurse reported that the doctor would "steal" "narcotics" from the "locked cupboard" and use it himself and report it as having been used for a patient. She also tell us other trick were used by the doctor to get the injections. Many times he had asked the nurses in the theater to go out to bring something and in their absence pocket the injection "ampule" and fill a syringe with "water for injection".

It was believed that most surgical patients would have been tricked like this in the past many months. The nurse told us that she was told by the pharmacist at the hospital that the doctor also purchases narcotics from the pharmacy on prescriptions with patients names on them.

We called Mr Mohamed Yousuf Fulhu at his office. His staff who spoke on his behalf claimed that no such thing was happening at Hulhumale' Hospital and that our source was making it all up. We have not got a word from Fulhu despite us leaving messages on his mobile [7771889].

We understand that the doctor has an apparent medical condition of his leg which he claims to be the reason for using narcotics. His colleagues however say that whatever the reason, he is addicted to Morphine and Pethidine.

Our concerns are that medications intended for patients in need are being used by this anesthetist by stealing them, he is forging prescriptions to buy narcotics, he maybe "high" on drugs during critical periods at work at the hospital and that his acts are causing physical suffering to the patients and financial losses as well.

We fail to understand the rationale why such a doctor is being allowed to practice anywhere in the country.

Report filed by Ali Ashraf

Calling for Dr Fathmath Ali Didi to resign!!

2008-01-09T02:00:00.000-08:00

Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospitals' Director of Medical Administration Dr Fathmath Ali Didi should resign from her post with immediate effect! She has failed the institution and the general public who she is supposed to serve.

Dr Fathmath Ali Didi has been the head of the medical services at IGMH during its most turbulent and incompetent period in recent times. Failure, scandal, and mismanagement has lead to the hospital being viewed with utter disgust by the man on the street in Maldives. To add to this an obnoxious attitude and gross incompetence in her own professional career has hurt the image of this supposedly "premiere" medical institution of the country.

We, at MMW, have received several emails discussing how she has misinformed and discredited genuine complaints against her staff and institution by many individuals who have suffered the effects of maltreatment and negligence.

Ahmed Naushad whose father was recently admitted at IGMH under her deputy, Dr Yasir, received just 15 minutes of his "precious" time in over 2 weeks of hospital stay. He was tended to by junior doctors and other specialists on the Internal Medicine Department. Unable to and unwilling to tolerate this kind of neglect, Naushad had gone to the CEOs office to complain to Dr Fathmath Ali Didi. Initially he was refused an appointment and was told that F.A. , as she is called in the office, was busy. With no option left, Naushad had barged into the office the next day demanding to be heard. He was heard alright. Neither his complaints nor his fathers medical condition received any attention. Dr Yasir refused to see the patient. Naushad, desperate for adequate medical care for his father, left the hospital and traveled abroad with him.

That is just one story. Naushad's experience is not unique. It is a daily event at the only tertiary care government hospital in the country.

After days of searching, we were able to contact the father of a child who received severe injuries to his leg at the time of removal of a cast! The story was reported in Haveeru and other media outlets. We were told of the way Dr Fathmath Ali Didi abused the father for negligence that day. He had walked into the CEOs office carrying the child to show the injuries sustained. Dr Habeeb, an orthopedic doctor was called to show the wounds. What happened then was shocking for everyone who witnessed the proceedings. Taking turn both Dr Fathmath Ali Didi and Dr Habeed abused the father for creating "havoc" in a government office. The fathers' grievances were brushed aside and he was forcibly removed from the office.

Sickening.

The case of Ali Zakwan, the 10 month old boy who died as a result of mismanagement and neglect at IGMH in 2006, gives us evidence of the under-hand tactics used by Dr Fathmath Ali Didi to disregard the parents complaints. MMW has received reports from a source within IGMH, whose identity we promised to protect, that although an internal inquiry into the case found that the institution had failed miserably and that mismanagement and neglect contributed to the sad outcome, Dr Fathmath Ali Didi masterminded a cover-up by hiding the report of the committee and cooking up another more favorable one. The report is shelved at IGMH and has not been made available to the courts or lawyers. Furthermore, Dr George John, who was identified by the report as the person who mismanaged the case was allowed to leave the country while the court case was ongoing!

Dr Fathmath Ali Didi was also responsible for the several internal discord that arose within IGMH, especially involving the now infamous "group of concerned doctors" because of her inability to effectively run the institute.

The recent case of two senior doctors wrongly suspended for voicing concerns about the improper management of admitted cases in the Pediatric ward was also perpetrated by Dr Fathmath Ali Didi. She had acted on self interest, opting to punish two people who had openly questioned her competence and commitment, by cooking up stories about the two. Thanks to the pressure from the general public and "group of concerned doctors" the two good doctors are back to work, angering Dr Fathmath Ali Didi and her masters Dr Firdous and Dr Naila.

IGMH under the leadership of Dr Mohamed Solih has suffered great loss of public support and the institutional commitment of its prime service providers; the doctors. His policies and the evil devil incarnate and incompetent Dr Fathmath Ali Didi have a lot to answer for. But first we demand that they either resign from their posts or be disgracefully discharged from them!

Report filed by Shizmeena Thahir

Presidents medical cover saved from shame by a boy scout

2008-01-08T07:10:00.000-08:00

This is not a joke!!
[scroll down to read the update]

Dr Junaid, an ophthalmologist (a doctor specialized in the treatment of the diseases of the eye), is the current medical doctor accompanying the president of the Maldives on all domestic travel. His experiences and ability in managing any medical condition outside of his professional specialty is arguably limited. Accompanying the president of a country as the chief medical officer with the main responsibility of attending to medical emergencies facing the president and his entourage is not a simple task. We, and indeed any reader who comes to know of this, are shocked that this is the kind of medical cover the head of the state is provided and accepted by him and his advisers.

The Maldivian medical community and the presidents' advisers have been saved from utter humiliation by a brave boy scout. Had the president suffered any significant injury, Dr Junaid would have had no experience what-so-ever in ensuring adequate and safe medical care for him.

We contacted medical doctors who have worked with Dr Junaid at IGMH, including physicians who wished to remain anonymous. We asked them their views on the professional capabilities of Dr Junaid in attending to medical emergencies. All three doctors, senior specialists themselves, had no doubt in their minds that he would have been totally incapable of carrying out the required medical treatments.

We tried to get the opinion of the Maldivian Medical Association on the issue of having an eye specialist working as the sole medical doctor as the medical cover for the president. Their hot-line was unattended and we were unable to get their opinion. We have left multiple messages on their answering machine asking for a response by 8pm tonight, before we make the publication. We even contacted some of the Governing body members over the phone; none would continue the conversation from the point the question is raised! One brave soul said that he was sure that we, MMW, would make a good judgment ourselves.

The Maldivian medical community has many local physicians who would, for obvious reasons, be better trained and experienced to be picked as medical cover for our head of state. Dr Ahmed Razee, Dr Abdul Azeez Yoosuf, Dr Ibrahim Yasir, Dr Abdul Hameed, Dr Ali Latheef, Dr Fathmath Nadhiya, Dr Ibrahim Shiham and Dr Ali Nazeem are internal medicine physicians who are trained and experienced in managing emergencies in the adult population. They are all working at IGMH and are actively involved in managing emergencies and adult medical conditions. It is a shame that the presidents' chief medical adviser Dr Firdous has put the presidents life in harms way by selecting the wrong doctor to be his emergency physician.

Update
[22nd Jan 2008]

Some parts of the media have reported on the issues addressed in the above post but have not presented the facts. We would like to provide additional information and updates to ensure clarity.

Dr Junaid had been accompanying the president for the past 1 year or so. This trip was not the first one. Members of the presidential entourage are very much aware of the limitations in Dr Junaids professional capacity to handle potential emergencies. The president himself, was reportedly aware of the fact that Dr Junaid was an eye specialist.

Dr Junaid was reportedly selected for this post by Dr Mohamed Firdous, the presidents Chief Medical Advisor. All senior level health official were aware of the potential for disaster this appointment had created. Dr Firdous himself is the Chief Medical Cover for presidents' overseas travel.

We can confirm that Dr Junaid has now been removed from Presidential medical protocol. We have also been informed by IGMH and MoH insiders that the issue has been discussed in at least two high level meetings one each at the ministry and IGMH.

Members of the IGMH "special function medical cover team" who usually provide medical cover for government functions such as the July 26th and November 11th official receptions have been asked by IGMH to be available for future trips that the president is expected to undertake. The team includes a Physician, two medical officers and a senior nurse.

Chinese medical centers: unregulated and dangerous

2008-01-02T08:36:00.000-08:00

An investigative report

"The child had developed acute renal failure secondary to heavy metal poisoning following treatment at a Chinese medical center in Male'." Sharaf reports to Medical Investigators Team as he had heard a Maldivian doctor telling his colleagues.

We went to a Chinese Medical Center in Male', on an under-cover investigation, to see for ourselves what goes in these unregulated clinics. We have collected a bit of information on the Chinese Medical clinics in Male'.

We found out that the different Chinese Medical Centers registered in Male' have the names of senior Ministry of Health officials listed as their directors and beneficiaries. This was not surprising. Neither is it unique. Most medical clinics in Male' and the islands are registered under similar officials and high ranking administrators.

These medical centers are being allowed to flaunt the regulations governing clinics and medical centers in the country. Simple regulations are broken on a daily basis. Advertisements of hospitals and clinics do not appear on newspapers or broadcast media because of regulations. You wouldn't be able to see ADK hospital running a visual ad campaign. However, ads from Chinese medical centers are seen on most mass media, surprisingly with unbelievable medical claims. A TV ad is on these days on TVM too.

It was easy for our under-cover team of two to get a walk-in appointment at the clinic on Sosun Magu. A "doctor" who apparently is a specialist of "everything under the sun" took us into his office. He took a short history from the patient with the help of a translator. Then after a quick surface examination, even using a stethoscope, came to a conclusion that the patient needs the treatment that he was going to prescribe. He scribbled on a letter head and asked us to show to the nurse. The "nurse" asked us to purchase the medications from them. There were 4 injections and 4 "tablets". We paid Rf856 for the medicines. The nurse then took a disposable syringe and loaded 2 of the injections into the same syringe. We weren't going to get the injections, so we made a scene of the patient being scared of injections and after much convincing got ourselves out of the clinic saying that we'll be back in about an hour.

Import and sale of medications is regulated by the Ministry of Health by a Pharmaceutical Board. The board currently places restrictions on import of certain vital medications into the country for reasons even they would not be able to explain to the public. However, the Chinese Medical Centers can import, use and sell unlabeled and inappropriately labeled medications including injections. Even those that are labeled, are exclusively labeled in Chinese. We got someone to read the labels; his understanding of the "labels" was that "they were just names" and a few of them had names of "herbs". These medications were sold at the clinics by their staff in unlabeled bottles or paper packets, keeping the "secrets" of Chinese medicine secured!?

Our under-cover operation confirmed the way the medications were packed and sold. The contents of the tablets remained a secret until we were able to trace the "patient" the doctor had referred to in the over-heard conversation.

The said patient was a 9 year old girl from an island, we are withholding her identity, who had gone to the Chinese Medical Center with complaints of frequent headaches. She was given injections at the clinic and given 3 different coloured tablets to take regularly. Injections were given twice a day for 3 days and the tablets given for 2 weeks. Halfway through the treatment, she developed blood-stained urine, swelling of the face and legs and severe hic-ups. She was admitted at IGMH and found to have renal failure. She required dialysis and was transfered to India. Luckily, they took the medications with them. These were analyzed and found to have among other things high levels of Lead, Morphine and Lithium (all pharmacological agents of allopathic medicine). The injection was found to be Methylprednisolone (a pharmaceutical agent, a steroid). The doctors in India had diagnosed "Acute Renal failure secondary to Heavy metal poisoning". She did get better and returned to Maldives. Her case was discussed with the doctors at IGMH, who are now monitoring her kidney functions as per advice of the specialists in India.

We called Department of Public Health to inquire about the Chinese Medical Centers. We were told that those centers were not under their regulations; they were apparently registered as businesses at the Trade Ministry.

We also called Ministry of Health and spoke to a "Pharmacist" who said that the "Pharmacy board doe not regulate the Chinese medicines", they were apparently imported as health supplements for which no approval is required!

We understand that none of the medical clinics are properly regulated in the Maldives, but the operation of these Chinese Medical Centers as purely businesses with no regard to public health consequences is beyond our logic.

We are sure that there are other stories of similar nature. We would like to encourage those with personal experiences of similar , or even good experiences to write to us.

What will the new year bring?

2007-12-31T09:27:00.000-08:00

The year ending tonight has been one which has brought much suffering to many of us, not just because of illness, but a lot because of the great many inadequacies in our health system. The cost of human loss cannot be quoted in currency, but the cost of poor health, illnesses and neglect of a system would be beyond comprehension.

Minister Ilyas has failed to deliver an improvement to the health system worth anything more than a few name boards labeled "Health Center" or "Atoll Hospital". His team at the Ministry has managed to hold back the health care standard of the country at the same place as was at a decade earlier. The medical people with him, Dr Abdula Azeez Yousuf, Dr Sheena and Dr Ahmed Razee have done little more than draw 3-4 salaries per month!!!

The truly sick in the islands, die at the hands of either incompetent health care providers or a competent provider rendered incompetent by an inadequate health care infrastructure. We are witness to the desperate cries of those who have been left to tend for themselves, we are among them ourselves.

Our premier health institution, IGMH, has won not our hearts, but our anger and hatred for its display of contempt with our needs and wishes. It is little wonder that IGMH has had within its premises mob violence disrupt its services and physical assault cause injuries to staff. The failings of the administration and the inability of it high ranked officials to discharge their responsibilities were at least partly responsible for these events. Deaths, medical negligence, maltreatment and all sorts of medical errors at the institution have made their ways to the news headlines. It speaks volumes about the intentions of the management of the hospital when 2 doctors were suspended for voicing concerns about malpractices happening within the Hospital. Dr Mohamed Solih, Dr Fathmath Ali Didi, Dr Yasir and Ali Mohamed (Alibe') are responsible for the sickening state of affair at IGMH.

Can we expect anything different in the new year? Realistically the chances of that are very little. The system headed by the same individuals from the very top to the middle management level are corrupt, incompetent, selfish and untrustworthy.

One thing will be different though! We will be less tolerant of their criminal handling of our welfare in the coming year. We pledge that we will do all that we can to make sure that we hold them accountable to the people of this country. We have all suffered enough. We deserve better. We demand better.

No ICU bed for Mishka

2007-12-28T22:41:00.000-08:00

Mohamed Irfan Sharaf's story:

"I am now out on the streets, virtually begging to make ends meet." Sharaf said to us at the first meeting of MMW on Against Abuse web community on 25th December 2007. None of us could see it, but sure as the sky above our heads, Sharaf had more than a tear running down his cheek!

Sharaf is the 2nd child born to middle class Male' family where both parents held clerical government jobs to provide for the 4 children and 2 grandmothers. His parents invested heavily, without having a laari to save for the future, in the education of all 4 siblings. They are what they are today thanks to their parents resourcefulness. Enough about Sharaf and his family, the story is actually about Sharaf's 2nd child, Mishka.

Mishka was born 2 months premature after a torrid 7 month pregnancy. She was born at IGMH and spend nearly 6 weeks in the hospital having fought terribly hard during the first 2 weeks of her life for survival. That experience gave us a lot of confidence in the new and upcoming health care providers at IGMH, hope that we were indeed in good hands and that we could expect things to finally take a turn for the better within the often negligence-riddled system.

Mishka was just less than 1.5 kg at birth and was so tiny that we were afraid to touch her, afraid that we may do her harm. Half an hour after her birth, Dr Abdulla Niyaf, the Paediatrician on duty that day briefed us on what had happened at birth, what he and his colleagues were planning to do and what we could expect within the next few hours and days. Apparently little Mishka was not able to initiate breathing on her own after birth and required assistance with breathing. Within a few minutes, she was breathing herself, but apparently not with enough of an effort to maintain good oxygen levels within her blood. She was admitted to the NICU and given mechanical breathing support.

We were already financially broke, having spent all our savings on the multiple hospital admissions for premature contractions and threatened miscarriage. Had it not been for financial support from a close friend, who we now take as a brother, we would have had to beg for money to support the daily cost of medicines for Mishka. Mishka did need very expensive medications during the first day of her life, 2 injections of surfactant had to be given into her airways each costing nearly MRf 2000.

There were times during the first 2 days when we though we would loose Mishka. We shed many a tear each time we saw her in the NICU. She was, we are sure, looked after very well but for us common people seeing several tubes coming in and out of the little baby was a sight that pained us greatly. It was a very mixed experience overall, some days we would be buoyed by the changes in her condition and the professionalism shown by the treating doctors, while on others we would struggle to talk to other doctors who were sharing the responsibility of caring for Mishka.

When Mishka was a week old, we were given a longer than usual briefing on her progress and plans for the next few days. She had stable breathing parameters and was apparently showing good effort of breathing. Dr Niyaf said that Mishka was needing only a little bit of assistance from the breathing machine. She was doing as well as they were expecting and that they hoped that Mishka would be able to come off respiratory support soon. Our prayers were answered.

The next day, Dr Niyaf and Dr Zumra gave us the happy news, Mishka was off the machine and doing very well. That was a relief. We had heard of terrible stories of medical misadventures at IGMH that we were terribly afraid that similar things could happen to our little Mishka. But Mishka was indeed in good hands. Even the foreign doctors with whom we had some tension were caring towards Mishka; Dr Balaji was himself, but a cauldron of knowledge. I know that it was a team effort, the key players just making sure that the team stayed focused. My wife fondly remembers a couple of Nurses who made her a part of the care-team. The cheerful chatter-box, Sheeza and the sweet smiling Jeba were her favorites.

We made it thorough the tough time, Mishka fighting for her life and winning the battle thanks to Allah and the efforts of a team, we learned to respect. We often complained during the last 3 weeks of our hospital stay, when Mishka played yo-yo with her weight. We were warned that this period would be long, we didn't expect it to be quite that long though.

Finally, we were given a 2.2kg and healthy Mishka to go home. We were in a hurry to go home that day and we forgot some very important things. We went back to IGMH the very next day and thanked Dr Niyaf, Dr Balaji, Dr Zumra and even Dr George; someone who would later break our hearts.

The IGMH experience, a largely good experience had cost us well in excess of MRf 50,000. We didn't have that kind of money. Letters from IGMH doctors helped secure financial assistance that helped pay most of the bill. We were happy, broke yes, but still happy. Even if we had to spend every laari ourselves, we would have, a child is worth whatever it takes!

That was the happy experience that Sharaf narrated to us before his face turned gloomy. We knew it was coming. We could see the dark clouds hidden behind the happy shimmer in his eyes.

Mishka had spent 6 months growing well and showing no signs of having been the tiny baby with several tubes coming in and out of her little body and attached to machinery to sustain her life. Her big brother was just getting used to having her around the house and getting over the jealousy sibling rivalry when we were hit by a lightening bolt.

Since discharge from hospital, we had made a terrible mistake. It wasn't easy to get an OPD appointment for our favorite doctors, the ones who gave us back a healthy Mishka. After the first 2 follow-up consultations one with Dr Niyaf and the other with Dr Balaji, we opted for "experience" and ease of getting an appointment. We consulted Dr George as advised on a monthly basis. With Mishka turning 6 months, we were scheduled to consult Dr George for the 5th time, when she had what we thought was a mild fever.

We didn't take any chances though, we took Mishka to IGMH and showed her to Dr George. Mishka was not herself that day, she didn't allow a good examination. We know Dr George struggled to see her properly. We were a bit concerned about how Mishka was breathing and mentioned it to Dr George. He dismissed our concerns rather off-handedly. We found that a bit odd, but thought that the doctor would know better.

Mishka was being given all 4 medications as advised, not a dose was missed. Her mother made sure of this. But something was not right with Mishka. She really wasn't breathing normally. It was the 3rd day of treatment and late in the evening. Mishka was breathing a bit heavily. Her cough had also become more chesty. The fever was gone though. We got an appointment to see Dr Vanitha at ADK.

Mishka was a bit restless in the doctors room and a thorough examination was not possible. The doctor said that she was having a severe form of cold and there was some "chest cold". She asked us to change the medications including the antibiotic we were prescribed before. She assured us that Mishka would get better soon.

That night was terrible for us. Mishka did sleep, perhaps because of the Phenergan that was prescribed for her. We stayed awake in shifts because Mishka tossed and turned a lot and slept fitfully.

Early morning the next day we went to IGMH and tried to see if we could meet Dr Niyaf, Dr Zumra or Dr Balaji, the very people who helped us before. It was Dr Niyaf's "off-day", Dr Zumra was busy in the NICU with a sick child and Dr Balaji was out of station. Just our luck. We saw Dr George in the corridor and requested him to see our Mishka as soon as possible. He asked us to sit outside room 37 and that he would be there shortly.

It was 9:30AM when we saw Dr George. He said that She needs admission for treatment and that he suspects that Mishka has a chest infection, he called it Pneumonia. By now Mishka was grunting and breathing terribly noisily. We were given a slip to get a chest x-ray, which would later show a large "pneumonic patch" and a "pneumothorax". After a look at the x-ray Dr George, still in room 37 said "it looks OK" but told us to get admitted anyway.

On the way to the admission desk, we met a family friend who was a close friend of Dr Razi. He took the x-ray from us and went to show it to Dr Razi, who was apparently in an OPD room too. Our friend would return to tell us that Dr Razi said it looked very bad and that he would recommend immediate admission.

We quickly got Mishka admitted. Dr Ismail Shafeeu was very helpful. He quickly started treatment. Mishka's condition was clearly critical. Dr Shafeeu had said that Mishka needs ICU care and that she may need mechanical support for breathing. It was a scary thought. We had already started making plans to take Mishka to Colombo as soon as possible. My brother was making all arrangements for that while we were in a new struggle for Mishka's life.

Sadly though, IGMH could not afford an ICU bed for little Mishka. It was full. All 8 beds in the "immense" ICU was full and not even one could be moved out. I saw how hard Dr Shafeeu and the junior staff tried to get a bed in ICU. But it just didn't happen.

Because of our experience when Mishka was in NICU, we were able to understand what the numbers on the monitor to which Misha was connected to meant. Her oxygen was way low, 85% at the best of times, with full oxygen by mask. She was agitated and very irritable. Preparations were already made by Dr Shafeeu to have a tube inserted into Mishka's chest to remove the "pneumothorax". Meanwhile my brother was able to get seats for us on Srilankan to Colombo to fly out in 4 hours. This new plan prompted the surgical team, who came to place the chest tube, to do what they called "needle drainage".

With Mishka struggling "needle drainage" was done in the treatment room. Mishka remained the same though. Dr Shafeeu wanted to have the chest drain in place for the air-travel but the surgical team though the needle drainage was sufficient. We didn't know what to think. It was beyond our comprehension. We were eager to get Mishka to an ICU; in Colombo if IGMH could not get one for us. She needed that. We needed to give that hope for her.

We flew out that day with Mishka hanging on to dear life, just so only. The 4o minutes or so travel time went off ok, Mishka didn't collapse that is. The nurse who accompanied us kept checking on Mishka every few minutes to see if anything extra needed to be done.

Our luck ran out on the ambulance ride from the airport to Apollo hospital. Mishka's breathing became ragged. She looked pale in the face, her hands were dusky and she was gasping for air. The doctor or male nurse on the ambulance worked frantically to assist Mishka to hold on till we reached Apollo Hospital. Mishka had fought hard.

We were shattered. Mishka was pronounced dead on arrival at the emergency room of Apollo Hospital. We couldn't believe it. I couldn't even cry, Mishka's mom fainted. Mishka, our lovely Mishka had left us and traveled to heaven.

Sharaf was sobbing now. He couldn't say anything more. The rest of us felt the pain and the anguish. We offered our support to Sharaf and pledged to fight on till things improve in our health care system.

Corruption within the recruitment process

2007-12-28T04:13:00.000-08:00

I paid US$2000 to employment agent in India and then US$1000 to agent in Male' to get a job as a nurse in Male'. [Name withheld, Received by Email]

One senior, lady at Department of Medical Services at the Ministry of Health took money from me as commission for giving me my job in Maldives. [Name withheld, Received by Email]

We have heard of staff shortages in the health sector of the country for many years. There have been rumors that many of those who apply for posts, in response to advertisements in foreign newspapers are prevented from getting a contract unless a bribe is paid to Maldivian and expatriate "agents".

One email that we received did mention a senior level official at DMS, whose name was not mentioned in the email, taking heavy bribes from potential employees before confirming their contracts. Our team made inquiries from contacts within DPH and MoH if there was any truth in these stories. Our contacts were able to confirm that such rumors are rife even within the office. They were however unable to confirm for sure if such activities indeed happen, they said, "the senior level officials would know, but then again- they maybe the people involved too".

One senior doctor, who wished not to be named for obvious reasons, working at a regional hospital talked to a member of the Medical Investigators Team on 27th December 2007 and confirmed that he had to bribe the head of the institute and an official from DMS to renew his contract. He said that every expatriate doctor known to him working in Maldives pays some sort of "fee" or "commission" to officials to ensure their contract was renewed. He swore that to get his first post in Maldives he had paid 2 lac Indian rupees to an agent in India and MRf 10,000 to a Maldivian "agent" upon arrival in Maldives.

We were made to understand that DMS is the government department responsible for recruitment of all medical staff to institutions other than IGMH, which has its own recruitment department Personnel department within IGMH.

The staffing situation at IGMH is also woeful. Several of the key medical departments are chronically short staffed and stretched. There have reportedly been spats between medical staff and the officials at the Personnel department over the pace of the recruitment process including accusations by many of corruption within the recruitment process.

Two doctors from IGMH that we contacted refused to either refute or confirm whether they experienced such procedures when they applied for work at IGMH. Their refusal to discuss the issue and allegations does make one believe that they may have been victims of a similar scam.

The stories that we received may make us believe that high level officials within the Ministry of Health and IGMH are involved in a racket to make money out of the recruitment process. Our contacts within MoH and IGMH share the views.

Expatriate doctors, nurses and paramedical staff have stories to tell. Many of them have allegedly paid bribes and "commisions" in order to get a contract or extension of contract to high level officials.

[We continue to investigate these allegations in order to identify the people involved in the racket]

Non-standard ultrasonography

2007-12-27T12:45:00.000-08:00

My wife was 6months pregnant at that time when we went to Kulunu Medical Services for a scan appointment. The sonologist on duty was Dr Fathmath Ali Didi. The scan was done. The only thing she said to us was that "baby was normal" and that "everything was fine". Two and a half months later when baby was delivered, he had gross multiple physical anomalies!
[Received by Email]

Dr Fathmath Ali Didi is the Director of Medical Administration at IGMH, an MBBS graduate who has risen through the ranks initially because of her influential family and now because of the ease with which she can be manipulated by policy makers.

We have been able to confirm that for the past many years she has been a practicing sonologist performing the "job" of PG Radiologists both at the government setup and in private practice. She is however, not a radiologist and has nothing more than the experience of attending a single certificate course on basic ultrasonography years ago. We have been told, and we believe too, that she has over the years acquired skills in operating the ultrasound scan machine and is able to do basic scans.

Nevertheless, lets us not be fooled into believing that she is at all qualified to do complex sonography. The scan referred to in the email had missed fairly gross physical anomalies that should have been seen by the sonographer. We wonder how many such errors had resulted from scans performed by herself and fellow wannabe-radiologist Dr Yaganegi.

We called IGMH to find out what post Dr Fathmath Ali Didi holds within the radiology department. The PRC girl said "she is a consultant". Our contact within the Personnel Department was able to confirm that she held no official post in the radiology department at IGMH. Her posts include Director of Medical Administration and Registrar in Internal Medicine. We have also learned that her qualification is listed as MBBS only. She is not a specialist physician and her post of Registrar in Internal Medicine came as a shock to us. We were made to understand that these types of extra posts were common for high level administrative staff and that it was a way of them earning a higher salary. Incidentally- Dr Yaganegi is also only an MBBS graduate.

One of staff at IGMH reported that Dr Fathmath Ali Didi only does scans when there is a shortage of Radiologists and that she is "usually quite Ok" with obstetric scans. The truth became apparent when we called CEOs office, where her office is. The person who answered said that she was on scan duty at the time and to call later!

This case highlights a serious breach of trust that should exist between service provider and patients. Individuals working in professional capacities well beyond their capabilities and medical qualifications is a serious issue. It could cause serious damage and grievances for patients. From the email, it is evident that it has already happened.

No oxygen in health centers and hospitals

2007-12-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

A sick newborn transfered from Gn. Fuvahmulah Atoll Hospital to S. Hithadhoo Regional Hospital bacause of lack of oxygen at the former health facility. [Translation; Minivan Daily]

This report was very concerning. We alerted our team to do a quick investigation and below are our findings.

The story is factual. The baby was transfered to HRH (Hithadhoo Regional Hospital) because baby was having respiratory distress and the oxygen supply at Fuahmulah Atoll Hospital was running out. Our affiliates at HRH confirm that the baby was received at the regional hospital and that the baby is improving.

On a more concerning note though, we can confirm that the lack of oxygen is a problem across all government health facilities including IGMH. Our affiliates within IGMH confirm that apart from a few cylinders, IGMH is running very low on oxygen.

STO and Maldive gas are the suppliers of oxygen to IGMH and DMS (Department of Medical Services). Apparently a financial conflict between the suppliers and the institutions is responsible for the grave situation. Overdue invoices and mismanagement of stock maintenance has put the health of many of our most vulnerable in jeopardy. Jazeera Daily is the only local paper to report on this issue.

As Dr Yasir was unavailable for comment, we tried to call Dr Solih (Executive Director General, IGMH) to inquire about the situation. As custom, his phone was also in silent mode! We were told that Alibe' (Director General, IGMH) was the next in command at IGMH. He and 2 other senior executive, we were told were unavilable at this time, as they were at the Peoples Majlis.

In the atolls, the situatation is different at different centers. At most places there was no oxygen available anyway, because they never had any. However, at most of the health centers report that they have enough oxygen (some reportedly have one extra cylinder on standby! That is 2 cylinders in total).

If the situation does not improve over the next day or so, we will see patients being transfered abroad for oxygen! "Patients in IGMH ICU are high risk of oxygen deprived brain injury in the next 48hrs if things do not improve" said one staff working there. It is a scary thought and a scandalous statement and she may be right too.

The incompetence, corruption, mismanagement and poor planning at IGMH, MoH.....across the board in our health services is putting our lives at risk.

Foreign spouse and Thalassaemia

2007-12-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

On the pre-text of combating Thalassaesmia, Dictator Gayoom introduced discriminatory bars against Maldivians with foreign spouses, a cowardly act to cling on to power at any cost. [DO political article, 2nd sentence of the 5th paragraph]

Is this true? We couldn't find any documentation of this anywhere (our team has access to a limited amount of records). Anyway, we decided to get a medical position on this statement.

We called National Thalassaemia Center to get their opinion. Dr Farzana was not available for comment and the person who answered the phone said "there is no one else who can provide information" at the center.

We then called Ministry of Health, even though we have insiders, to get an official word. The girl who answered the call said that neither Dr Sheena (Director General of Health Services) nor Dr Azeez (Deputy Minister) were available for comment.

We then called IGMH where we were told, by PRC counter, that the only person allowed to communicate with the media was their spokesperson. That turns out to be Dr Yasir. It appears his mobile phone is on mute, as he was apparently unaware that we were calling him repeatedly.

At SHE, we were told to talk to Ms Jeehan, a counselor. She could not be contacted either.

Left on our own, we turned to a team of doctors affiliated with the Medical Investigator team. We posed the question to them.

There apparently is no truth to the inference that marrying foreigners would increase the incidence or disease burden of Thalassaemia in the Maldives. On the contrary, everyone agreed that diluting our Thalassaemia riddled gene pool with foreign genes would benefit the Thalassaemia situation.

Conclusion:
The justification or reason for the "foreign spouse bar" is not correct! It is unlikely to be the documented reason for the legal clause. Medical opinion is that the inference is false.

And Yes: being un-contactable is a fashion!

Warning!

2007-12-26T10:22:00.000-08:00

We shall not tolerate mistreatment, maltreatment, negligence, medical errors, corruption, mismanagement and abuse at our health institutes!

Be warned, our eyes are on you. Play it safe, do what is right.....or else......