Hyderabad: Wrong' audio test hits girl's growth, hearing centre blamed

Hyderabad: A complaint of medical negligence has been filed against Shravya Speech and Hearing Centre with the district medical and health department by the State Commission on Protection of Child Rights alleging that a three-year-old girl was wrongly evaluated for hearing loss by the Centre.

The audiometer test done on Akshara, then just three years old, had diagnosed her with ‘Bilateral Moderate Sensori Neural Hearing Loss’ and a hearing aid was recommended.

But, ever since she started using the hearing aid, Akshara looked distressed, restless and would cry frequently. The child also tried to remove the hearing aid but, since it was important for the development of speech, she was made to use it.

In his complaint to the Child Rights Commission, her father Y. Vijay Kumar stated that his daughter just could not adjust to the hearing aid and so a second test was carried out.

The second test also showed low hearing and requirement of a hearing aid. ENT specialist Dr Ravi Kishore, who treated the child initially, said, “During both the tests it was found that the child was suffering from hearing loss and for that reason the hearing aids and speech therapy were provided. But the speech therapy was not completed and there was no follow-up by the parents.”

The parents stated that the hearing aid made the child sensitive to small sounds and she looked stressed. She developed behavioural issues of stubbornness, talking to herself and would not co-operate.

When she was five years old, the parents got another test done. This audiometric test showed that the child could hear sounds in the normal range.

The angry parents filed a complaint with the commission stating that the reports of 2012 and 2013 were false and demanded action against Shravya Centre. Akshara is seven years old now but is not able to talk properly and suffers from poor social skills.

Delay due to lack of follow-up, says doctor
Shiva Kumar of Shravya Speech and Hearing Centre said: “The child’s responses were evaluated and it was found that she could not hear properly in the first two tests. The child was to avail speech therapy but they didn’t come regularly. Later, when the child came at five years of age, the tests were done and it was a case of delayed hearing development which was explained to the parents.”

ENT surgeon Dr Ravi Kishore says such cases are rare but they are found in medical journals “where the nerve development of the child is delayed and due to that they suffer from hearing loss.”

“But, the biggest problem is that speech does not develop till one hears. And for that reason, hearing aids and speech therapy is important. In this case, due to lack of proper follow-up, the child didn’t complete speech therapy and for that reason development of speech has been delayed,” he added.