Japanese Doctors Found Liable For Infant's Death Due To Over-administering Powerful Sedative

Faizan Hashmi Published June 24, 2021 | 03:00 PM

TOKYO, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Jun, 2021 ) :-- Five Japanese doctors were found liable for causing the death of a two-year-old boy due to over-administering a strong sedative, the Tokyo District Court ruled Thursday.

The doctors were found to be negligent and liable to pay around 60 million Yen (541,269 U.S. Dollars) in damages for the death they caused to the infant in 2014.

The amount fell short of the parents' claims for damages in the region of 180 million yen (1.6 million U.S. dollars) against the five doctors.

The parents also claimed damages against two other doctors at the Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital, but these were rejected by the court as the hospital had already compensated the parents, according to local accounts.

The use of propofol for children who have been intubated and are on ventilators or other machines essential for their breathing is, in principle, banned in Japan.

In January this year, two anesthesiologists out of the seven doctors were indicted without arrest.

They were charged with negligence resulting in the boy's death.

Following a seven-minute procedure to remove a non-cancerous tumor in Kosuke's neck on Feb. 18, 2014, the infant was administered large quantities of propofol while he was in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital and died three days later, the ruling stated.