Woman slaps MoH with P300,000 suit
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday May 19, 2015 15:02
The appellant, Stella Dube, who is represented by attorney Rodger Calendar, is suing the state for ‘emotional and psychological pain’ she suffered following a botched operation at the government hospital.
Dube told Justice Phadi Solomon that the doctor left gauze inside her private parts after an operation to remove a cyst.
Dube said on May 9, 2012 she was admitted at Nyangabgwe and later had a miscarriage.
“On May 10, 2012 a doctor who consulted me discovered the cyst but referred me to another doctor. I was operated on but the process was very painful. I heard a nurse who was assisting the doctor saying the pain was because the doctor forgot to inject me in order to reduce the pain. The doctor told the nurse to bring an injection for the pain,” she testified. Dube said that on May 13, 2012 she was discharged from the hospital but was unaware that something was inside her private parts. She said that the doctor only advised her to use a procedure known as a sitz bath to clean the wound.
“On June 27, 2012 the wound had not properly healed and pus was coming from it and was also smelling badly. I was attended to by close to five different doctors at Jubilee and Nyangabgwe hospitals but my situation only got worse. The doctors continued to give me painkillers. I had difficulties in walking as a result of the botched operation,” she said.
Dube stated that on June 25, 2012 she went to Riverside Clinic where a doctor discovered a foreign object inside her private parts. Dube explained that the doctor did not operate on her as she had run out of funds.
“I later went to Nyangabgwe and called the hospital superintendent and matron to alert them about my problem. I was operated on by another doctor who told me that I could have died if the object had remained in my body for a long time,” she said.
Dube also said that in November, the cyst developed again but a specialist from China operated on her successfully. Dube said they said the wound took only two days to heal.
“I want P300,000 as relief for the emotional and psychological pain I endured as a result of the botched operation.
I was not even counselled following the stillbirth and botched operation,” she said. Dube added that her boyfriend had also dumped her during her ordeal, as he believed she had a sexually transmitted disease.
“I still have pain and cannot sit down for a long time.
I want the court to rule that I be compensated for the reasons I have already advanced,” she said. Earlier in the matter, Dr Antonio Dezivas of Riverside Clinic testified that he had found a foreign object inside the applicant’s private parts when she had come to Riverside Clinic complaining of pain.
Dezivas said he told the appellant to go to Nyangabgwe for removal of the object.
“I was going to operate the patient but she ran out of cash so I referred her to Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital for treatment at a government facility,” he said. The case still continues.