Doctor’s diagnosis concerns

A PAEDIATRICIAN who treated Matthew Baxter, who was allegedly murdered by his father, said he considered a number of diagnoses for the baby’s brain and retinal bleeding.

Dr Yogavijayan Kandasamy testified in Townsville Supreme Court yesterday on the third day of Burdell man Nicholas Baxter’s trial.

Baxter has pleaded not guilty to murdering his six- week- old son by shaking or striking him.

Dr Kandasamy said on November 3, 2011, Matthew was on a life support machine in the neonatal intensive care unit. He said Matthew was anaemic and pale.

He administered a vitamin K injection and gave him the antiviral medication Aciclovir.

“One of the concerns I had was, could this be a condition called late haemorrhagic disease of newborn,” he said. “In that condition, the bleeding will occur if the baby doesn’t have adequate vitamin K.”

Dr Kandasamy said he also considered Matthew may have an infection or a metabolic disease.

“There was insufficient information to make a definite diagnosis at that point,” he said.

Paediatric haematologist Dr Jeremy Robertson told court vitamin K- deficient bleeding was rare and could cause intracranial bleeding.

He said in Matthew’s case he couldn’t rule out mild vitamin K deficiency.

The defence case is the severe brain and retinal bleeding Matthew suffered on November 3 was caused by a medical issue. Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane alleges Baxter shook or struck his son to death while his partner was away for a boat licence course. Matthew’s life support was switched off on November 6, 2011.