21-05-2025
Sandipan Dhar's father accuses Joondalup Health Campus doctors of lies over toddler's death
The father of a toddler who died at a Perth hospital after presenting to the emergency department two days earlier has walked out of a coronial inquest into his son's death, accusing medical staff of lying in their evidence.
Sandipan Dhar was 21 months old when he died at Joondalup Health Campus on March 24 last year.
An autopsy later revealed he died due to complications from undiagnosed leukaemia.
Sandipan's father Sanjoy Dhar left the court as hospital doctor Dr Yii Siow was giving evidence.
'I cannot take anymore lies,' he told the court.
'I am just exiting myself.
'It's too much for me to take.'
The WA Coroner's Court inquest is trying to discern whether blood tests could have detected the blood disease earlier and spared Sandipan's life.
Sandipan had a fever for about three weeks after he received routine vaccinations.
One GP told the court on the first day of the inquest he 'just couldn't ignore the parental concern' and sent the family to Joondalup Hospital with a letter requesting blood tests on March 22.
His parents took Sandipan to the ED that day but left the hospital after about five hours, without his bloods being taken.
Sandipan was brought back two days later and died that evening.
The allocated nurse and junior doctor on duty told the inquest on Tuesday they didn't recall Saraswati and Sanjoy Dhar insisting on blood tests.
Dr O'Hearrain told the court on Wednesday he also did not remember Mr Dhar asking for the blood tests, referring to Sandipan's parents as 'very reasonable' and 'patient.'
Coroner Sarah Linton suggested cultural differences could have influenced the degree of concern expressed by the parents.
'There certainly seems to be disconnect between how concerned they say they were … and how they seemed to you,' she told Dr Caolan O'Hearrain incourt.
Mr Dhar said he did not know he had to demand his child's needs in a specific way.
'We've been polite. We didn't consider to raise our voice because other patients are in the other beds,' he said outside court.
Mr Dhar said he asked Dr O'Hearrain 'minimum, three times' to ask Dr Siow, to take a blood test.
Dr Siow told the court Sandipan looked well and his parents were calm on March 22.
'They appeared really calm and relaxed to me. I didn't think there was a heightened level of concern,' she told the court.
Dr Siow told the court she and the family even joked at one point about mothers always being right.
She said the family did not ask for a blood test and if they had insisted on one, it would have been an 'easy decision' to complete it.
The court heard there was conflicting evidence on whether the family were told to leave the ED on March 22, or whether they left of their own accord.
Mr Dhar said outside court Dr Siow had asked the family to leave, but she was not questioned on that on Wednesday.
She will continue to be questioned on Thursday, when the inquest continues.
