A terrible story of medical malpractice shocked public opinion in Mexico, where a three-year-old girl, declared dead by doctors, gave signs of life while in the coffin of her funeral, only to die while being transferred to the hospital.
A case that highlights the poor quality of medical care in the rural areas of the North American country.
The State Prosecutor's Office of San Luis Potosí announced that it had opened an investigation to ascertain responsibility in the case, in particular of the doctors who treated the
three-year-old Camila Roxana Martínez, declared dead twice in less than 24 hours
.
The first death declaration took place on
August 18
.
Mary Jane Peralta, the child's mother, said she took her daughter to a pediatrician in the municipality of Villa de Ramos after the child began to feel ill.
The doctor recommended that the parents transfer her to the hospital for treatment, as she presented with a picture of dehydration.
The little girl was taken to the
Salinas de Hidalgo
basic community hospital , but an hour later, the doctors discharged her.
Seeing no improvement in their daughter, the parents decided to take Camila back to the community hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The certificate listed acute diarrhea, severe dehydration and hypovolemic shock in the cause of death.
Hours later, while the girl's funeral was taking place, the terrible discovery: the mother and mother-in-law noticed that the child was moving her eyes and that the glass of the coffin was fogging up, so they called a nurse who confirmed the presence of vital signs.
After being called for help, the little girl died during the journey by ambulance to the hospital.
The second death certificate states that the death was due to "brain edema, metabolic failure and dehydration".
Nearly
10,000 children
under the age of five die each year in Latin America from acute diarrheal diseases, the second leading cause of childhood death in the world.