8-year-old Indian-origin girl dies of myocarditis after doctors missed warning signs; Australian coroner finds death preventable

Amrita Lanka/Image: 7NEWS An eight-year-old Indian-origin girl died from myocarditis at an Australian hospital in 2022 after a junior doctor failed to recognise the severity of her condition, a Victorian coroner has found, concluding that earlier medical intervention could have saved her life.Amrita Lanka died at Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne on April 30, 2022, less than 24 hours after arriving with vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain, according to ABC News.On Wednesday, Deputy State Coroner Paresa Spanos found that the care provided by overnight registrar Patrick Tan contributed to Amrita’s death. She said earlier escalation of treatment and a transfer to the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) could have saved her.“While I accept that EDs are busy places and Dr Tan was a relatively junior doctor with many responsibilities, the clinical management and care he provided to Amrita was wanting … and thereby caused or contributed to her death,” Spanos said.How did Amrita’s condition deteriorate?Amrita was referred to the hospital’s paediatric emergency department by her family doctor on April 29, 2022, after two days of illness. At triage shortly before 1pm, she was alert and her v...