A three-year-old girl was wrongly administered an anti-seizure drug before she died with the flu in a Perth hospital — but how and why the medication was given to the toddler is still a mystery.
Aliyah Yugovich died suddenly in July, after contracting the flu following a routine tonsillectomy.
Four months later, the little girl’s grieving parents have voiced their anger at learning their daughter was mistakenly given an unprescribed medication before her death.
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The details were revealed in a preliminary report by the coroner.
But despite the bombshell, a cause of death has not yet been finalised, with the findings expected before Christmas.
A SAC-1 Health Department review is also under way.
“It should never have happened,” Mrs Yugovich told 7NEWS.
“I took her to hospital because I trusted them.
“How are we ever supposed to trust another medical professional again?”
Topiramate is an anti-convulsant primarily used to prevent seizures in people with epilepsy, and to treat migraines.
Aliyah did not have either of those conditions.
“I want to know what happened,” her mother said.
“I want to know why my three-year-old daughter is dead and why I’m never going to see her grow up.”
Aliyah had a tonsillectomy at St John of God Murdoch on June 28, but fell ill three days later and was admitted to Perth Children’s Hospital with influenza-A.
She spent two nights as an in-patient before being discharged, against her parents’ wishes.
The following morning she began coughing up large amounts of blood and was rushed in an ambulance to St John of God Hospital in Midland.
Aliyah was later declared dead at Perth Children’s Hospital.
It is understood all three hospitals have no record of the drug being administered to the toddler, and that the coroner may not be able to pinpoint where the drug was mistakenly administered.
All three hospitals have been approached for comment but say they are unable to respond while investigations are underway.
7NEWS understands an independent board investigating the case on behalf of the health Department was not made aware of the finding until Mr and Mrs Yugovich notified them.
The Forrestfield couple is calling for greater transparency and co-operation between agencies.
“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?”
Aliyah was also given an incorrect intravenous dose of the antibiotic clindamycin while being treated for the flu at PCH.
A note on her medical file states her parents were never notified of the error, because they were resting at the time.
The parents are also concerned with a lack of services for WA parents suffering the sudden loss of a child.
They said 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,” Mrs 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.”
The couple is in the process of setting up a foundation in their daughter’s name to help bereaved Perth families.
You can donate to The Aliyah Mae Foundation by visiting this link here.