This Tuesday (27/6) began the trial of the case of Rohan Godhania, a 16-year-old British boy who died in 2020 three days after consuming a protein supplement. The boy got the product from his parents, who expected muscle growth to improve the young man’s posture.
Rohan was taken to the hospital, where he suffered irreversible brain damage, and his organs were donated before doctors could define the link between the supplement and the health problems.
Months later, the person who received the boy’s liver started having seizures, and a biopsy was performed on the organ that found that Rohan had a deficiency in ornithine carbamoyltransferase, a rare disease that involves enzymes responsible for removing ammonia from the blood.
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The protein supplement caused an ammonia spike, which built up to levels considered lethal. The boy’s family alleges that the hospital did not carry out ammonia tests, which could have indicated the disease and allowed treatment in a timely manner, saving Rohan.
Another problem is that the specialized hospital in the city did not accept the 16-year-old patient in the neurological pediatrics ward, since he was classified as an adult in the first health center where he was admitted.
“There shouldn’t be any discussion about whether he could be admitted to a pediatric hospital or the adult ward. If he had been treated by the pediatric specialist I think he would have received a correct diagnosis more quickly,” says Professor Finbar O’Callaghan, Professor of Pediatric Neurology at the Institute of Child Health at University College London, UK. He was one of the witnesses in the case.
Coroner Tom Osborne, who is also participating in the trial, asked in his testimony that companies that manufacture protein shakes write on the product label a warning about the likelihood of developing OTC. “Despite being a rare condition, it can have serious effects if someone takes the drink and has a protein spike,” says the expert.
