From the eHospice newsletter
Mahesh was diagnosed with bone cancer soon after his birth and was brought to the major cities in southern India, to seek help and treatment. In these cities – Chennai, Hyderabad, Vellore and Bangalore – were established pain and palliative care centres, none were referred to Mahesh’s parents. By the end of four years, the family had racked up a huge debt from the medical treatments and had sold everything they owned.
Mahesh’s parents, together with personnel from palliative care teams from Hyderabad and Tricandrum, watched him pass away a day after his fifth birthday, hooked onto machines and in pain. A senior palliative care physician was reported feeling “ashamed” as the child was not referred to them despite being next to a hospital Mahesh was taken to.
Read the full article here.