Father seeks euthanasia for son

Father seeks euthanasia for son

MADURAI: A coolie in Kanyakumari district has sought permission for euthanasia of his infant son, who has been suffering from an unknown disorder since his birth.

Dennis Kumar of Vandavillai near Marthandam, in his petition to the Kanyakumari district collector has said that he was married to Sujatha, two years ago. When she became pregnant, he had wanted the best treatment for his wife and child and consulted a private nursing home in Marthandam. He had taken his wife for regular check-ups and the doctors had claimed that everything was well.

On June 4, 2011 when he took his wife to the hospital, the staff there told him that she would deliver only on June 7 and sent them home. However, she started bleeding heavily on the night of June 4 and he had to rush her to the hospital. As the doctors were not present at the hospital during that time, the nurses there had allegedly told him to clean his wife's bleeding and he had complied. When the doctor came at 4am, the woman was rushed to the delivery room, where she delivered a baby boy. They had kept the mother and infant in the hospital for a few days before discharging them. Fifteen days later, when he took the infant to hospital for a check-up, the doctor had told him that the infant was looking unhealthy and asked the mother to feed him well. But, the child developed fits in the hospital itself and the doctor had asked Kumar to admit him.

However, Kumar said that he had lost confidence in the doctors and refused to admit the child there but had sought a letter of reference to another hospital, based on which he took his son to Thiruvananthapuram. The doctors in the hospital there told him that the child seemed to have suffered from the lack of glucose during birth after an MRI scan.

He prayed that he be given permission for euthanasia for his infant son who was suffering for the past 11 months, as his movements were restricted due to his unsteady neck. The man claimed that he had spent more than Rs five lakh on his son's medical expenses and was unable to spend more. Euthanasia would put him and his son out of misery, he claimed.

Kumar has also sent similar petitions to the chief minister's special cell. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/Father-seeks-euthanasia-for-son/articleshow/20098633.cms