‘Get experts opinion on child’s cancerous growth’

The Division Bench comprising Justice S Nagamuthu and Justice Anitha Sumanth, said “We cannot close the case simply accepting the statement of the Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine wherein it was stated that the occurrence of cancer following immunisation is not reported anywhere in the world.” 

However, on taking the suggestion by senior counsel K Kabir who has been appointed as amicus curie, the bench directed him to get further opinion from three experts as to whether there is any possibility for cancer due to immunisation and in the instant case, whether the present condition of the child was due to the immunisation injection given to him. 

The judges who visited the child on March 23, in their order also directed the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department to forward all the medical records pertaining to the child Anbarasu by e-mail to the HOD of Oncology, AIIMS, New Delhi and HOD of Oncology, Tata Memorial hospital Mumbai with a request to them to forward a report. 

The Bench also directed the Principal Secretary to file the report received from the experts before the Court on or before April 5, 2017. 

The bench had suo motu taken cognisance of a newspaper report that a boy from Erode who was vaccinated when he was four-months old developed a contusion few days later at the place of injection. This had developed into a cancerous growth weighing 3 Kg now. As the boy’s parents were construction labourers, they were unable to fend for his treatment. Noting that the child’s status was heart rending, the bench had directed the Erode district administration to ensure that the boy was brought to Chennai and provided treatment citing that marginalised people especially children fail to get adequate health care. 

As per the court direction, the report submitted that the boy has been admitted to the Adyar Cancer Institute and that his present ailment is not owing to the immunisation injection given to him.