The expert panel at Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) and BJ Medical College (BJMC) will investigate the death of a six-year-old girl, who died while undergoing treatment at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital (DMH) on May 18. A five-member panel was formed on Wednesday to investigate the case, officials said.. The family had alleged medical negligence during treatment and demanded action against those responsible. (HT FILE)The panel includes the medical superintendent of SGH and the heads of department—medicine, ophthalmology, paediatrics, and forensic medicine, amongst others.According to the officials, the minor girl underwent an eye-related surgical procedure at DMH and died on the same day, on May 18, post-procedure. The family had alleged medical negligence during treatment and demanded action against those responsible.Dr Yallapa Jadhav, medical superintendent of SGH, said, “The committee will scrutinise the reports of DMH, past health records and post-mortem. The report will be submitted to the Alankar police station once the investigation is completed.”Earlier in a parallel investigation, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on May 22 had constituted a five-member inquiry committee to probe the death of a six-year-old. The committee was directed to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the circumstances leading to the child’s death and submit a detailed report within seven days.The panel submitted its findings to the civic body on June 1, stating that certain necessary investigations, such as Chest X-ray, ECG, and 2D Echo, were not performed prior to the surgery. Additionally, the PT/INR and APTT test results available after the surgery suggest the possibility that the patient may have had a bleeding disorder.The panel members held detailed discussions with the medical specialists who treated the deceased patient. It was observed that the post-mortem report was not available. Therefore, the exact cause of death could not be found,’ they said in the report, a copy of which Hindustan Times has seen.Dr Suryakant Devkar, assistant health chief of PMC, said based on the available medical records, the cause of death could not be conclusively determined. “The post-mortem report from Sassoon General Hospital has not yet been received. The preliminary inquiry committee has recommended that further investigation should be conducted by an expert committee under the supervision of the superintendent, Sassoon General Hospital,” he said.DMH, in their statement, said the patient was posted only for examination under anaesthesia and was not posted for any surgery. “For any surgical procedure in non-cardiac disease children, the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences and the American Society of Anaesthesia do not recommend any routine ECG, echo or chest X-ray; in fact, it is not done unless recommended specifically. The patient was examined by a paediatrician for fitness and was found to have normal heart and lung function. Additionally, the patient had already undergone cataract surgery under GA before, so there was no question of having any bleeding disorder,” they said.