Anesthesiologist get suspended sentence over death of 2-year-old boy in hospital

TOKYO — The Tokyo District Court has found an anesthesiologist guilty over the death of a 2-year-old boy at Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital in 2014. 

Toru Kotani and another anesthesiologist, Satoshi Fukuda, were charged with professional negligence resulting in death after administering an excessive dose of the sedative propofol after the boy underwent neck surgery on Feb 18, 2014.

The court on Friday sentenced Kotani, 66, to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, Kyodo News reported. Fukuda, 44, was acquitted.

Although police referred a total of six doctors to Tokyo prosecutors, Kotani and Fukuda were deemed to have heavier responsibility in the fatal case and were charged, while the remaining four were not indicted.

Administration of the sedative to children requiring artificial ventilation is banned in principle due to the risk of side effects, but doctors are allowed to exercise their discretion.

Kotani, who was effectively representing the hospital's intensive care unit, decided to use propofol to the artificially ventilated toddler and, along with Fukuda, failed to properly respond even as he showed signs of abnormality, according to sources familiar with the matter.

To prevent the ventilator's tube from slipping out of the boy's body, Kotani administered the sedative without explaining to his family, according to a report by a third-party investigation panel set up by the hospital.

The child received propofol equivalent to 2.7 times the level appropriate for an adult over about 70 hours, before dying three days later of a side effect from the treatment.

© Japan Today