An earache led to Karnataka teenager's death, after 'dentist' gives antibiotic injection

The accused is a dentist who proceeded to treat a patient who complained of ear ache.
An earache led to Karnataka teenager's death, after 'dentist' gives antibiotic injection
An earache led to Karnataka teenager's death, after 'dentist' gives antibiotic injection
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A severe earache led to the death of a 16-year-old boy after he was administered an antibiotic injection by a dentist in Kolar.  

Abhiram, son of Chalapthy, a farmer from Bethamangala in Bangarpete taluk, had gone to the Sharadamurthy Clinic with his parents on Wednesday, after he developed a severe ear pain. Dr Naveen, a dentist, then administered an injection, following which, his health deteriorated, the police said. 

As Abhiram's health worsened, Dr Naveen directed Abhiram's parents to take their son to the district hospital immediately. However, Abhiram did not make it to the hospital and died on the way to the hospital. 

Dr Naveen (35), a practicing dentist, is not qualified to treat a patient for ear problems. Dr Naveen, a native of Mulbagal in Kolar, used to run the clinic with his wife Dr Shweta, who works at a government hospital. Apart from the two of them, two nurses are employed at the clinic. 

"As a dentist, Dr Naveen is not supposed to attend to any other cases, but he administered a Monocef injection, which is an antibiotic. This is a drug that needs to be administered in low dosages and many patients tend to be allergic to it. Ideally, the drug should be administered only after making sure that the patient does not develop complications. But clearly, Dr Naveen was unaware of the dosages," Kolar District Health Officer Dr Vinay Kumar told TNM.

Dr Vinay Kumar said that while Dr Naveen used to practice as a dentist, his wife Dr Shweta used to practice at the clinic in the evenings, which is against law, as government employees are not suppose to join private practices. He said that Dr Naveen seeing patients with other illnesses was a grave error on his part. 

Dr Vinay also said that though Dr Naveen was a registered dentist, it is yet to be ascertained whether the clinic had proper licences. 

"The boy's body has been sent for post-mortem and we need to get the results to come to a conclusion on the matter. Meanwhile, we and the police are also looking into other aspects such as the licence, etc,” Dr Vinay said. 

The police have booked Dr Naveen for medical negligence under Section 304 (a). Police Inspector Puttegowda said that Naveen has shut the clinic and is absconding. 

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