Mother of dead baby seeks answers
There are new developments tonight in the case of a baby that died last month at the K.H.M.H. It is believed that Ashton Chun, age one year four months, died of complications arising from AIDS…and that disease was allegedly contracted through a transfusion of tainted blood products last May at the Southern Regional Hospital in Dangriga. The hospital, blood bank and Ministry of Health have declined to comment on the case, pending the results of their own internal investigation. But tonight one party is talking. Miguelina Mendez is the mother of the dead child and this evening she travelled all the way from Punta Gorda to tell her story to News 5’s Jacqueline Woods.
Jacqueline Woods
“Baby Ashton Chun was born on May third, 2001. He had jaundice, fever, and when Ashton was eight days old, he started to haemorrhage from the navel. You were told that he needed a plasma transfusion…”
Miguelina Mendez
“We were transferred to the Southern Regional Hospital the same day and the same day he was given the plasma transfusion.”
Jacqueline Woods
“So he was given the transfusion at Southern Regional Hospital.”
Miguelina Mendez
The same day we reach, the evening.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Do you know where the hospital got the plasma from?”
Miguelina Mendez
“I’m not sure, but I think they got it from Belize City from the Karl Heusner hospital.”
Jacqueline Woods
“From what I understand, baby Ashton received only a portion of the one bag that was used?”
Miguelina Mendez
“Yes, he only got the plasma part.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Following the transfusion were there any problems? Did he get sick?”
Miguelina Mendez
“No, what I notice is that like the plasma blew him up. He looked healthy and I thought, well the baby had overcome something. So we were released the next day, the tenth and they prescribed a set of injections. But then I took him to a paediatrician in Belize City to hear a second opinion, because it would be like fourteen injections. So he told me that the baby did not need the injections because the baby responded to everything that he did the baby, the baby responded very good. So what I did, I just stayed in Belize City with a friend of ours until the baby’s navel healed good then it dropped. Because it took like fifteen days before the navel dropped, so the lady took care of it. After the navel dropped, then I came back to P.G.”
Jacqueline Woods
“When Ashton was eleven months old, did he get sick?”
Miguelina Mendez
“Yes, he had the coughing off and on, and I took him to the hospital in Punta Gorda and they had given him medication, but it was not effective. And then I took him almost a month going back and forth to the hospital and it did not help. So I decided to bring him to Dr. Grinage in Belize City and he told me that he baby had an early stage of pneumonia. So the baby was treated, he was given a nebuliser and different medications. And it helped him, he sent me home on medication and I returned one or two weeks after that, I’m not sure, but the fact is that the baby recovered.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Then what happened on August nineteenth?”
Miguelina Mendez
“On August nineteenth he had this coughing again, but it was like more deeper, he coughed and coughed and like it couldn’t stop, and he would get short of breath. So I took him to a doctor, she specialise in general medicine I think, and I explained to her the problem and that he had it like three days already, and she gave him medicine. I noticed that the first day the baby was getting better, but like the next day it went right back. And I went back again because the baby frightened me, this time he coughed and I thought he was going to die on me.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Was he diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia?”
Miguelina Mendez
“She didn’t tell me. So I went again and I told her that to me it seemed like it was something more. She told me maybe I’m scared because it was my first baby and she explained to me and I told her, and I got worried. So I told my boyfriend that I’m not going to stay here, so we brought in the baby the Tuesday to Dr. Grinage, and he diagnosed several things the baby had. I think his heart was swollen, then we was anaemic, his blood count was low. So he did an x-ray, and from the x-ray he referred us to Karl Heusner, and the baby was admitted for two weeks there. He was given another blood transfusion and medication. But the first week, the medication did not result positively, so they changed it to a different set. This one was helping him; he was recovering and the Monday we were released.”
Jacqueline Woods
“That would be September eighth.”
Miguelina Mendez
“No, the first time we were released was September second. We stayed there from the nineteenth of August to September second.”
Jacqueline Woods
“You were mentioning to me that when you took the baby back to K.H.M.H., they did an x-ray. That test revealed that Ashton’s lungs were congested.”
Miguelina Mendez
“That was the second time. Dr. Gamero did the x-ray, he requested for the x-ray.”
Jacqueline Woods
“But at that time, they told you that they didn’t see the need to hospitalise him?”
Miguelina Mendez
“Because I told him that the baby wasn’t improving, and he tell me no, he didn’t see anything. Well I went back home and then the Monday I brought the baby for an injection to the hospital. During that day my sister called me and told me that she had talked to Dr. Rosado and he wanted to see the baby. So I went the Monday evening to Dr. Rosado and…”
Jacqueline Woods
“That would be September ninth.”
Miguelina Mendez
“Aha. And he checked the baby and he said that the baby’s lungs were still congested, so he didn’t understand why the baby was released from the hospital.”
Jacqueline Woods
“What did Dr. Rosado do, did he put Ashton on a nebuliser?”
Miguelina Mendez
“Yes, I used to go in the mornings and evening, two times a day.”
Jacqueline Woods
“And so on Wednesday, did he order several blood tests?”
Miguelina Mendez
“He, he told me that…before that, he had ordered some tests, but then he said those tests weren’t priority, he ordered another set, including the HIV test. And the Thursday when I took the baby for the HIV test, I went back in the afternoon, and when I went back he told me that…”
Jacqueline Woods
“The baby was HIV positive. Miguelina, were you shocked?”
(Crying, shakes head yes)
Jacqueline Woods
“You couldn’t believe this news because you mention that you knew you were HIV negative, as well as your common-law husband.”
Miguelina Mendez
“Well I did the HIV test the Monday when the baby died, but my boyfriend is a blood donor and he had just gone out of the country to do a crash course, and he was negative. And then the two weeks that we were in the hospital, the baby needed blood so he had to donate blood, and he did another AIDS test. And the Friday when we were it the hospital the second time before the baby died, he got the results and his results were negative.”
Jacqueline Woods
“So as far as you know, baby Ashton did not get he virus from you or your common-law husband. Did Dr. Rosado then refer the baby back to K.H.M.H.?”
Miguelina Mendez
“Yes.”
Jacqueline Woods
“And Ashton was then admitted.”
Miguelina Mendez
“Admitted for the second time.”
Jacqueline Woods
“What happened next?”
Miguelina Mendez
“When we reached, he was put on oxygen because he couldn’t breathe by himself, it was difficult. And then later the morning he was transferred to the paediatric room and he was treated. For the whole time he was put on the oxygen, because the minute you take off the oxygen he would start coughing and he was get blue.”
Jacqueline Woods
“And then sadly, baby Ashton died on September sixteenth.”
(Shakes head yes)
Jacqueline Woods
“Since then Miguelina, the family has been trying hard to get answers to many troubling questions. Tell us, what is it that you have been doing to try to find out what happened to your baby?”
Miguelina Mendez
“Well we have been talking to the C.E.O., Mr. Rosado, to seek the answers and he has told us that…what we understand is that the test they had done came out negative. But we did the test at Universal and it was positive, they extract blood after the baby died and it came out positive.”
Jacqueline Woods
“That was done at Belize Medical Associates?”
Miguelina Mendez
“Belize Medical Associates… so what we are thinking is that if at the two private labs the test is positive, how comes the test will be negative when they do it at their Central Lab, and they are not answering our questions. And they did not do an autopsy because they said that they don’t do that for HIV patients. But on the birth certificate it had that the baby died from chronic bronchial pneumonia and some other thing, nothing including the HIV.
Jacqueline Woods
“Why have you decided to come forward with your story?”
Miguelina Mendez
“Well, because out of the blood… I suppose that not only my baby got it, I don’t know if adult or children, whoever got the blood, the rest of the blood, because he only got part of the blood.”
Jacqueline Woods
“So the family strongly believes that somebody else…”
Miguelina Mendez
“May have been infected with the rest of the blood.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Have you received any response from the Ministry of Health, from health officials?”
Miguelina Mendez
“From nobody. We had faxed letters to different organisations, and they have not responded.”
Jacqueline Woods
“I understand you all as well have been requesting a medical history.”
Miguelina Mendez
“Well we got a medical history, but it’s not the full detail that we had requested.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Do you all intend to file any lawsuits against the hospital?”
Miguelina Mendez
“Well in the future I think we will have to do it because they are not cooperating.”
Today we were told by a spokesman for the Ministry of Health that their investigation should be completed by tomorrow.
