The shattered parents of a three-year-old girl are demanding answers after a report revealed that an anti-seizure drug was mistakenly administered to their daughter before she died.
Perth toddler Aliyah Yugovich died unexpectedly in July after she contracted the flu following a tonsillectomy.
A preliminary report by the coroner has found that Aliyah had the ‘unaccounted for drug’ anti-convulsant Topiramate in her system, which none of the three hospitals that the toddler attended before her death had a record of administering.
How and why the drug was given to the toddler remains unknown.
Aliyah’s parents Jessica and Josh Yugovich have expressed disbelief that an unprescribed medication was given to their little girl.
‘It should never have happened,’ Mrs Yugovich told Seven News.
‘I took her to hospital because I trusted them.
‘How are we ever supposed to trust another medical professional again?’
Jessica (pictured left) and Josh Yugovich are mourning their three-year old daughter Aliyah (pictured centre)
Topiramate is primarily used to prevent seizures in patients with epilepsy and to treat migraines, neither of which were conditions Aliyah suffered from.
‘I want to know what happened,’ Ms Yugovich said.
‘I want to know why my three-year-old daughter is dead and why I’m never going to see her grow up.’
Seven News reported that an independent board investigating the case on behalf of the Health Department was not made aware of the drug finding until the grieving parents notified them.
‘Why can’t they share this information to the SAC-1 team,’ Mr Yugovich said.
‘Why can’t they work together, so we can find out what happened here in a timely manner and stop it from happening again?’
The cause of Aliyah’s death has not yet been officially determined with the coroner’s findings expected to be handed down before Christmas.
Aliyah underwent tonsillectomy surgery at Perth’s St John of God Murdoch Hospital in Perth’s south on June 28.
Hours later on the Sunday night, Aliyah was rushed to Perth Children’s Hospital’s emergency department after the toddler developed a fever and flu-like symptoms, where she and her mum waited four hours to see a doctor.
Aliyah was diagnosed with influenza A and discharged three days later on July 3.
Her condition rapidly deteriorated early the next morning after she woke up coughing and vomiting blood.
Paramedics were called to the home and performed CPR for an extended period before Aliyah was rushed to Midland Hospital and placed in a coma.
She was then transferred to PCH, where she was placed on life support.
Aliyah died suddenly in July after catching flu following a routine tonsillectomy in a Perth hospital
Brain scans and an EEG later revealed that Aliyah had no brain activity and her life support was turned off the next morning.
All three hospitals unable to comment on Aliyah’s case while investigations are underway.
It has emerged Aliyah was also given an incorrect intravenous dose of the antibiotic clindamycin while being treated for the flu at PCH.
Aliyah’s medical file states her parents were never notified of the error, because they were resting at the time.
The grieving parents claim that the only help made available to them was a stack of grief pamphlets left at their door by a government social worker.
‘We had to wait three-and-a-half months for an appointment with a grief counsellor,’ Ms Yugovich said.
‘That three-and-a-half months is the longest and most torturous wait, as you try to learn to live in a world without your daughter.’
A Gofundme for Aliyah’s family described the toddler as beautiful, smart, cheeky and so full of life.
‘She made everyone laugh and lit up the room,’ Tessa Pritchard wrote.
‘Her beautiful face will forever be etched in our memories,’
The fundraiser, which has stopped receiving donations after it reached $86,600, said it was seeking financial help to give the Yugovichs time off work to grieve and to cover funeral costs.
The couple is setting up a foundation in Aliyah’s name to help other grieving families.