She was admitted to the hospital on August 18 and was discharged on August 21 along with the prescription that had medication for tuberculosis. [break]
"Since the hospital´s pharmacy did not have the full range of medicines prescribed to her, we just bought the first dose after she was discharged," said Dhakal´s son Eknarayan Dhakal. He informed that his mother had vomited after taking the medicine but the family disregarded it thinking it was out of weakness.
"I only knew of the mix-up when the pharmacist at Narayanghat asked me who 16 years old Rinkal Ghimire was," said Eknarayan. Dhakal was then immediately taken back to the hospital on August 22.
Though the doctors gave her additional medicines that stopped TB medicines´ reaction and Dhakal´s health began to show improvement, she lost her life around 9 pm on Monday.
A 12-member committee which included members from both sides arrived at a five-point agreement which stated the hospital admits that Dhakal´s prescription got mixed up and action will be taken against the guilty; a fund in the name of Dhakal´s son will be established; Rinkal Ghimire too to be treated for free; and investigate the situation and punish the guilty.
According to Dr Harish Chandra Neupane, a member of the hospital management committee, Dhakal´s chest was very weak due to asthma.
"Some food particles went inside her lungs while eating and she choked and later passed away while being treated," said Dr Neupane who further said that the patient´s relatives refuse to accept the truth. Dhakal´s family, however, said the explanation about choking was just an excuse to cover up their mistake.
He informed the investigation is going on to ascertain how the prescription got mixed up and if Dr Shital Adhikari who was treating Dhakal and other health workers are found guilty they will be punished.
On the other hand, Ghimire´s family was not informed about the mix-up. "We were just told to stop the medication," said Ghimire´s mother Laxmi. Ghimire was asked to come to the hospital on Monday evening itself but Laxmi said the doctors were yet to treat her.
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