Widow sues state for medical negligence

A CHATSWORTH woman has lodged an R800 000 claim for medical negligence against the State.

She claimed her injured husband, who was sent home from hospital the same day he was involved in a road accident, died six weeks later allegedly after doctors failed to diagnose all his injuries pertaining to the accident.

Gnanam Relu, 53, whose husband, Vengetsamy, 56, died on June 14, 2012, after he was involved in an accident near Higginson Highway, is suing the MEC of Health in KwaZulu-Natal.

According to documents filed in the Durban High Court prepared by advocate Rithy Singh and attorney Simrithi Sharma, Vengetsamy sustained a fractured jaw and heel bone on April 26, 2012, but was discharged by RK Khan Hospital the same day.

It is alleged that a perforated stomach and pneumonia had not been detected at the time.

The construction company employee returned to the hospital the next day after complaining of pain.

He was admitted and remained there until April 30 and was then at McCord Hospital from May 2 to 5. From there he was sent to King Edward VIII Hospital where he underwent surgery to repair the stomach perforation.

The doctor at King Edward put him on traction because his left thigh was fractured.

Vengetsamy, who was on oral medication for diabetes and hypertension, spent more than a month at King Edward before he was transferred to RK Khan Hospital, where the traction treatment and bed rest continued.

His condition, however, took a turn for the worse at the hospital on June 13, 2012.

According to court papers, the nurses and doctors noted that he was “distressed, pale and confused”.

After a chest X-ray was done, he was diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia and given oxygen and antibiotics.

He went into cardiac arrest and died on June 14, 2012.

It is alleged in court documents that the doctors and nurses at the RK Khan, McCord and King Edward hospitals had breached the oral agreement, which they had entered with Vengetsamy.

“They failed to diagnose all his injuries relating to the vehicle accident timeously, and upon examining him on April 26, 27 and 30, 2012. The fractures and stomach perforation were also not properly diagnosed. When Relu’s condition deteriorated on June 13, 2012, the state doctors and nurses failed to take appropriate action.

“The blood gas analysis was done after he went into cardiac arrest. They did not perform an electrocardiogram (ECG). That ought to have been a priority given his diabetic and hypertension conditions,” it is alleged.

“Relu was not placed in a high care ward. If that was done, his treatment would have been stepped up.

“Even though the antibiotics did not assist in controlling the pneumonia, the state doctors and nurses failed to take appropriate action.”

Gnanam’s legal team also claimed that doctors and nurses were unable to monitor her husband’s vital signs properly because the equipment was out of order owing to an electrical power outage.

“Apart from that it was a tacit term of the agreement that the nurses and doctors at the three state hospitals where Relu was a patient would provide medical services with the utmost care and skill.

“The state-paid doctors and nurses breached the agreement and were negligent in their duties.

“Prior to his demise, the deceased was married to his wife in community of property. He maintained and supported her throughout their marriage. Relu’s health was fair before the accident.

“Had it not been for his death, he would have continued working until the age of 65 and would have continued to support and maintain his wife,” it is claimed.

“As a result of his death, his wife has been deprived of the general support and maintenance of the deceased.”

Anaesthesiologist Dr Eric Hodgson, in his report which forms part of the court documents, challenged why the deceased was placed in traction and why blood and other tests were not done to determine the level of the pneumonia.

Hodgson, the chief specialist in the clinical wing at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital and a clinical associate at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, said in view of Vengetsamy’s respiratory issues which came about after the accident, it was not a good idea to place him on traction.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has been given approximately a month to file its opposing papers.