Australian Medical Association says doctor followed all procedures in flu shot death

Apr 27 2010

By Candy Lashkari

The death of a two year old girl a day after she relieved a flu shot has become an issue for the Brisbane doctor who gave the girl and her twin sister the flu shot. The Australian Medical Association branch in Queensland has warned against making Dr Amir Eskandari the scapegoat in the case.

Two year toddler Ashley Epapara was found dead in her cot on 9^th April one day after the seasonal flu shot was given to her. Dr Jeannette Young, the Chief Medical Officer of the state referred Dr Eskandari to the Medical Board of Queensland for not reporting the suspected adverse reaction the girl had to the vaccine. As per the law that was the proper course of action for the physician to take.

As per Dr Eskandari he did not report the death as Ashley seemed fine after getting the flu shot. He had followed all procedures while giving her the vaccine. He has welcomed the Medical Board review as he is convinced that he had done nothing wrong. He hoped that people would wait for further results before jumping to conclusions.

"You've got to get consent before any injection. Everything was under control and I don't know exactly what happened," he told reporters outside his Mt Gravatt practice. Initial autopsy results also have not found any reason to believe that death was caused by the seasonal flu shot. The Queensland coroner is currently investigating for the real cause of Ashley’s death.

The Australian Medical Association branch of Queensland's president Dr Mason Stevenson also urged people to focus on the real issue, the actual cause of the death of the child. He did not believe it was necessary to make the GP who gave the flu shot a scapegoat in the case.

"Let's resolve the issue about how this child died because the parents need closure," Dr Stevenson said. "Secondly we all need to know if, or if there's not, a link with the seasonal flu vaccine."

After Ashley’s death a number of adverse reactions have been linked to the seasonal flu shots given to many children. Most of the children are in the Western Australia and Queensland region. The federal authorities have suspended the seasonal flu vaccination for children below five years in the wake of this news. Older people in risk groups are still being urged to be inoculated.

Paul Lucas, Deputy Premier had said on Tuesday that the GP had not informed the Queensland Health of any adverse reaction in the girl, which was a legal need if the doctor had believed that such a reaction had occurred. Mr Lucas also stressed that so far there was no evidence to show that the flu shot was the cause of the girl’s death.