Newborn bleeds to death after doctor persuades parents to get him circumcised

A NEWBORN bled to death following a botched circumcision recommended by the family doctor, shocking tribunal documents have revealed.

Ryan Heydari was just 22 days old when he underwent the contentious procedure in Canada in 2013.

The paediatrician who conducted the circumcision said it was “uneventful” and Ryan was not bleeding. But the boy’s parents, Homa Ahmadi and John Heydari, said they knew something was wrong when their normally “unfussy” baby cried uncontrollably following the cut.

“(He) was crying so much, so hard, and he wouldn’t stop,” Ms Ahmadi said. “He was bleeding, and it only got worse over just hours ... It was so obvious from the blood his tiny body had lost that he was in danger.”

When the couple called the paediatrician for help, he advised them to take Ryan to Toronto’s North York General Hospital, which they did.

“We ... waited for care that could have saved his life, but that level of care never came,” Ms Ahmadi told National Post.

He was eventually transferred to Sick Kids hospital, but died there a week later from “hypovolaemic shock” caused by bleeding. He lost 35 to 40 per cent of his blood.

“The loss of Ryan, our only child, has made us realise that we can’t possess anything, even our hopes and dreams,” Ms Ahmadi said. “We hope that this never happens to any other baby.”

She said she and husband didn’t want Ryan to be circumcised, in accordance with advice from paediatric specialists, but a family physician persuaded them it was a good idea.

Heartbroken ... parents Homa Ahmadi and John Heydari said a family doctor persuaded them to have their son circumcised. Picture: HandoutSource:Supplied

They complained to regulators about the events leading to their son’s death. But details of the shocking case only became public this month after they appealed the original Ontario College of Physician and Surgeons rulings, rendered in secret.

Earlier this month, an appeal tribunal upheld the College’s decision to caution the doctor who saw Ryan in the emergency department hours after his circumcision.

The Health Professions Appeal and Review Board also confirmed the College’s separate advice to the paediatrician who conducted the circumcision to be aware of the procedure’s potential hazards.

For Ms Ahmadi, the rulings were a slap in the face.

“We are so shocked that we will not have an answer to bring us some peace for our broken hearts, to prevent other cruel deaths like Ryan’s and to ensure that doctors take proper care of their patients,” she told National Post.

Only about 32 per cent of babies in Canada are circumcised, with the Canadian Paediatric Society saying the procedure’s risks outweigh the benefits.