THE EDITOR, Sir:
I REFER to the article concerning the most recent death from gastroenteritis, that you placed on the front page of The Gleaner of August 4.
Perhaps this matter ought not to be discussed in the public domain, for when a child dies the sadness that the parents feel is only to be compounded when there is disagreement amongst doctors.
The unfortunate comments by Dr. Deanna Ashley cannot be allowed to stand however. I quote: "Unfortu-nately she went to two private doctors over a two-day period prior to coming to the Bustamante Children's Hospital."
This seems to be an attempt to shift blame in one way or another. Perhaps Dr. Ashley should not have spoken until after the death conference, for I do agree with her that everything should be done to prevent any death from any disorder that is curable.
I hope she will agree with me that the persons were quite right in seeking the intervention of their private practitioners before proceeding to the hospital. I hope she will agree with me that when the case requires hospitalization, it should be within the competence of the private practitioner to realize this. This is not to say that all private practitioners have the same talent, for after all, Medicine is an art as well as a science.
I have always felt that one good way to test the quality of a private practitioner is to watch who the other doctors send their family to. No! Dr. Ashley they are almost never to be seen at the Bustamante Hospital.
However, I digress; let me, on behalf of all doctors, both those in public service and those in private practice, express our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased child, for while I do not know them I share the pain of their grief.
A death conference will no doubt be held to see why this poor baby died.
The child's parents should also be comforted in the knowledge that, we hope, by their sacrifice, to try to make sure that no other family has such a sad outcome from this common childhood disease, if humanly possible.
I am, etc.,
DR. JEPHTHAH FORD
jephthahford@hotmail.com
Vanford Medical Centre
1 Pennant Terrace
Kingston 19
