Police in Poipet City are investigating a complaint filed by the parents of an 18-month-old girl who died Sunday after being treated for typhoid by a Banteay Meanchey provincial police medic.
Veng Vat, 25, a construction worker in Poipet commune, accused Khong Veng, chief of the provincial police medical and administration department, of killing his daughter by administering the wrong medicine.
“She just had a slight fever for only three days when I invited the police medic to treat her,” Mr Vat said by telephone.
Mr Vat alleged that Mr Veng treated his daughter with five different types of medicine on Saturday. On Sunday, the infant’s body “became swollen, then went into shock and started to have tremors,” he said.
Mr Vat said that the family is demanding that Mr Veng be prosecuted for his daughter’s death and that he pay around $1,500 in compensation.
Mr Veng confirmed Monday that he did treat the infant for typhoid, but denied that the treatment caused her death.
“I didn’t do anything wrong in my medical treatment,” he said, adding that the parents were at fault for taking the critically ill child to another clinic after he treated her and not allowing her to stay at home and rest.
“The girl’s parents are exaggerating the facts in order to demand a big sum of money as compensation,” he said.
Poipet City police chief Om Sophal said that police are still uncertain as to what caused the child’s death.
“I found out that the victim had a few doctors and health workers who treated her, so I could not make a conclusion yet,” the police chief said.
