A five-month-old baby was prescribed adult TB treatment for a disease he didn’t have after a paediatrician allegedly misdiagnosed him.
Instead of conducting blood and sputum tests to confirm the presence of TB in the baby, the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital doctor allegedly simply made a judgment call based on a radiographer’s report that suggested checking for TB.
Rachel’s* motherly intuition possibly saved the life of baby Jeremy* - had he been given the six-month adult treatment, he would probably have suffered liver damage, which could have led to his death.
Rachel’s woes began three weeks ago when she discovered a lump under Jeremy’s arm.
She took him to her family doctor, who referred them to Charlotte Maxeke to consult with a paediatric surgeon.
He examined the lump and ordered them to go for scans to determine what it was, as he thought it could have been an abscess or a cyst.
During the ultrasound scan, a radiographer told Rachel the lump was a pus gland which could have been a reaction to the BCG vaccine, a vaccine against TB.
“He told me that while he couldn’t make a diagnosis, he said the paediatrician could prescribe antibiotics and/or suck the pus out,” Rachel said.
She took the scans and the radiographer’s report, which suggested considering TB, to the paediatrician.
“She asked me whether he coughs and I said ‘yes, a little’, because he has a change-of-season cold and a runny nose.
“The minute I said he had a cough, she immediately told me she thinks my child has TB and she was putting him on a six-month treatment course.”
At no stage did the doctor run blood or sputum tests.
At the hospital dispensary, Rachel was told that the hospital stocked only one form of TB medication as no paediatric treatment for TB existed.
The child was given two packets of tablets and a packet of capsules and was to take one of each every day for the next six months.
Rachel was told to crush the tablets and add them to 5ml of water for the baby to drink.
Another paediatrician, who didn’t want to be named, rubbished hospital staff claims that TB medication came in only one form for both children and adults.
“There’s definitely a different TB regimen for children and adults,” she said.
Fortunately for Rachel, her gut feeling told her there was something wrong.
“I just knew my child didn’t have TB, he didn’t have any of the symptoms besides a cough from his cold. My heart just didn’t feel right and I kept thinking that something doesn’t make sense.”
She consulted her GP the following day and told her that Jeremy had been given adult medication.
The GP said children’s TB medication came in sachets and not tablets.
Her doctor suggested trying to suction the lump to see what would come out.
“Out came a thick yellow layer of pus, and she told me this is only pus, there’s nothing else to this.
“Jeremy was put on to a seven-day antibiotic course after which he’ll go back to the doctor to have the rest of the pus drained.”
Now Rachel wants to warn other parents against the dangers of taking a doctor’s diagnosis as “the gospel truth” without questioning what they are told.
“These are people’s lives they are guessing with, and in this case they could’ve caused my son liver damage for something so small.
“And if this is happening to my child, what about all the other children?” she asked.
The hospital could not be reached for comment.
* Not their real names - The Star