A Melbourne health service admits to a series of oversights that left an eight-year-old girl dead after her mother said staff ignored desperate pleas for help. or signup to continue reading Amrita Varshini Lanka died from lymphocytic myocarditis - inflammation of the heart muscle - at Monash Children's Hospital on April 30, 2022. The girl presented at the emergency department with stomach pain and a fever.
Initial assessments ruled out appendicitis, with nurses instead believing Amrita had gastroenteritis. But the child developed breathing issues before going into cardiac arrest a few hours later and could not be revived. During an inquest on Monday, Satya Tarapureddi accused hospital staff of ignoring her pleas for help after her daughter began complaining of stomach pain.
When Amrita and her mum were taken to the hospital ward, about 3pm, a nurse showed her the emergency call button which she could press to get assistance. Ms Tarapureddi said she pressed the button about seven times during the 21-hour ordeal, but no one came. "Nobody was responding.
They were ignoring me. I don't know the reason," she told the Melbourne Coroners Court on Monday. She asked a hospital cleaner for help who confirmed the button was working.
Ms Tarapureddi said she approached the nurses' desk to tell them of her daughter's pain and the lack of response after pressing the button. "The nurse told me I had to wait because they were having a conversation," she said. A nurse arrived about 20 minutes .