• Baby Mwaniki died at a Kasarani facility (name withheld) immediately after the injection.
• The findings by pathologist Moses Njue says the only external and internal injuries were “multiple injection sites close to one another".
Image: Reuben Githinji
An Embu baby who died suddenly at a Nairobi hospital was injected with adrenaline drug, a postmortem has revealed.
Eleven-month-old Ethan Mwaniki died at a Kasarani facility (name withheld) immediately after the injection. Adrenaline is fatal if applied inappropriately. He was admitted on December 21 last year after showing symptoms of pneumonia. He also suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting. He was buried in Kithimu location, Embu West.
The findings by pathologist Moses Njue says the only external and internal injuries were “multiple injection sites close to one another, over the upper part of the right leg, 3cm below the right knee-anterior into the muscle and onto the bone."
The postmortem was conducted on December 30 last year at Gakwegori Funeral Home. The report says the baby was injected with adrenaline on the leg below the knee. He died minutes later.
The report adds, however, that the cause of the death could not be ascertained through the preliminary postmortem, hence further samples were sent to the government chemist for toxicological and histological analysis. The samples included blood, stomach and its content, parts of the kidney, liver and lung. Dr Njue declined to disclose the findings from the chemist citing restrictions.
Parents Joseph Njuki and Joyce Muthoni have sought justice from the Director of Criminal Investigations and the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board, among other agencies. They want the hospital held responsible for their child's death.
The Njukis said their son had trouble breathing at around 3am on December 21 before the mother rushed him to the hospital where he was given First Aid services. He was admitted for further treatment.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Justine Mwaniki said the child was first treated with antibiotics before he was admitted. At around 8am, the doctor who was on shift injected him with a drug she later admitted was adrenaline. He said the doctor tried to resuscitate the boy her efforts did not succeed. She informed the mother that her son had died.
“We suspect the boy died from an overdose of the adrenaline drug... or negligence on the part of the health workers who handled him,” Mwaniki said.
He said the doctor later turned defensive and arrogant when relatives and friends gathered and demanded a postmortem.
He said she refused to talk to them but they insisted and she accepted to have a meeting with them after admitting having injected the boy with adrenaline. The medic then allegedly told them that the boy could have suffered heart complications.
"We need justice for our baby by having the government act upon the responsible medics, through the intervention of the DCI, the DPP and the doctors and dentists board so we are contented," Mwaniki said.