Family seeks justice over untimely death of architect Rajib Ahmed

The family of architect Rajib Ahmed, a student of the 2003 batch of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, has brought allegations of medical negligence against two hospitals and demanded justice over his untimely death.

Rajib’s wife, architect Sarawat Iqbal Tesha, pressed the demand at a media briefing at the Dhaka Reporters Unity Sagar-Runi Auditorium on Thursday.

Rajib, one of the main architects at Roofliners Studio of Architecture, died while undergoing treatment at a Dhaka hospital on Feb 14. He was 38.

The architect had been receiving treatment from Samorita Hospital’s dermatologist Prof MU Kabir Chowdhury over the last one and a half years, Tesha said.

He had gone to Dr Kabir for a routine health check-up on Jan 22 when the physician added the Acitretin 10 mg capsule to his prescription.

“Rajib developed fever and abdominal pain on Feb 3 after he started taking the capsule daily. He tried to meet Dr Kabir again when the pain worsened, but the doctor was not present in his chamber at Samorita. He went to Square Hospital’s emergency unit afterwards.”

Square’s emergency department had asked Rajib to consult a general surgeon, stating the new medicine caused an inflammation of the liver. Meanwhile, Rajib was taken to Dr Kabir again when the pain deteriorated, Tesha said.

“Multiple side effects of 10 intravenous antibiotics given to Rajib, two at Samorita and eight others at Square, and kidney toxicity by another four antibiotics probably hastened his untimely death."

Tesha said there was mismanagement and delays during treatment at both hospitals, especially blaming Samorita, which masked Rajib’s liver failure despite high levels of enzymes and referred to other diagnoses.

“No specialist came to visit Rajib after his condition deteriorated at Square Hospital. The authorities also delayed making a definitive diagnosis.”

Rajib died after enduring terrible pain for eight days, but the doctors did not give any hints regarding his potential fate when he was in the cabin before being taken to the ICU, she said. The air ambulance medical experts declared him "not fit to fly" after being taken to the ICU. This delay and lack of proper and timely briefing took him to the "point of no return,"  she added.

“If the doctors had informed us in time, we could have taken him out of the country for treatment as there are no facilities for liver dialysis in Bangladesh."

Tesha said she filed a complaint with the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council seeking a fair investigation and justice for the incident so that no one else faces such incorrect treatment and negligence.

Rajib’s family and former classmates held a human chain protest at BUET’s central Shaheed Minar on Wednesday to protest against the incident.

Asked about the incident, Samorita Hospital General Manager Nurul Islam Tuhin said, "We cannot say anything about this incident. Dr Kabir Chowdhury will be able to speak with you on this."

Several attempts were made to contact Dr Kabir Chowdhury, but he did not pick up his phone.

Square Hospital CEO Md Esam Ebne Yousuf Siddique said, "The patient was admitted to Square Hospital for treatment in February. But nobody raised any complaints at the time. Hearing about it today, I am very surprised."

"Nobody has made such an accusation before. It would be good to hear the specifics of their allegation. They are saying that none of our specialists saw him. But all of our doctors are specialists. They are our own employees. They do not see patients outside the hospital, so there is no chance of negligence."