Amrita Lanka’s parents should be celebrating her ninth birthday today.
Instead, they’re campaigning for a new law in her honour after she died of a treatable heart condition at Melbourne‘s Monash Children’s Hospital.
A damning review found staff made a series of errors in treating Amrita Lanka, and failed to properly communicate with her family.
Amrita arrived at the hospital’s emergency department on April 30 suffering stomach pain.
Less than 24 hours later she died of myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle triggered by a viral infection.
A review found doctors had misinterpreted her heart test results and wrongly assumed her abnormal blood results were “falsely elevated”, and failed to properly monitor her vital signs.
There was also a delay in transferring Amrita to the Royal Children’s Hospital, where life support was available.
“There have been so many mistakes, none of it should have happened,” her father Chandra Sekhar Lanka said.
Monash Health has promised to implement all 11 recommendations within six months, including improving communication between staff and families from diverse backgrounds.
Read Related Also: Howard Hawks Once Said John Wayne Had a Sixth Sense For a Bad Movie Scene
Premier Daniel Andrews has also said the government would also look into changes that could be made.
“It’s my expectation that Monash Health will implement any and all findings, and SaferCare Victoria will have more to say to the government about whether there are broader things we can do,” he said.
“I’ll need advice from clinical experts about whether there’s any further changes we can make.”
Amrita’s parents have hired a legal team from Slater and Gordon to investigate a medical negligence claim against the hospital.
A key part of that would be securing financial compensation for the family.
For now they want to help other families, with a proposed new law called Amrita’s Rule.
It would simplify the process for worried relatives to escalate their loved one’s care.
