A mother is being investigated for manslaughter after her four-year-old son choked on a paracetamol tablet and went into cardiac arrest.

The young boy died in hospital in the city of Botucatu in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo on 6th November, four days after he was admitted.

The police opened an investigation and discovered that the mother gave her son, named as Pedro Augusto Gomes Silva, half a tablet of paracetamol because he had a toothache.

According to the police report, when the mother realised her son was choking, she tried to remove the pill with her hand from the boy’s throat, and he started vomiting.

The emergency services found the boy in a state of cardiac arrest and took him to the Hospital das Clinicas (University Hospital) where resuscitation procedures were performed en route, according to the news site G1.

In hospital, the boy started to breathe again and his heart rate returned to normal.

However, on Saturday, his condition deteriorated and he reportedly suffered from kidney failure with the hospital confirming his death at 10pm.

He was buried at the Cemiterio Jardim (Jardim Cemetery) in Botucatu the following day.

The police have confirmed that his mother, whose identity has not been divulged, is currently being investigated for manslaughter.