I had the
privilege to represent in a case in which Gasabo Intermediate Court awarded
Rwf125 million to a family whose child was debilitated when the medics delayed
helping the mother in labour to deliver.
King Faisal Hospital and the family I represented
had a long legal battle before the court from Feb 2020 until last week when the
court ruled in favour of the family.
You can imagine
how massive the evidence and arguments, especially based on the Law N°
49/2012 of 22/01/2013 establishing medical professional liability insurance,
both of us submitted before the court.
The court put our evidence and arguments on its balance
scale of what the Law establishing medical professional liability insurance
says and the report of experts on the child.
The Rwanda Medical and Dental Council guided the
experts in making the reports until the fourth one on which the court depended.
The report had to ascertain and explain to the court
what happened to the child who could not talk, sit, stand, or do anything at
eight years.
The experts said that the child's health conditions
proceed from the treatment mother received during delivery.
The report again explained that the hospital medics
took a long to give the woman a C-Section surgical delivery which caused
excessive fatigue to the baby at the time of birth.
The excessive fatigue was accompanied by a lack of
oxygen in the brain, causing permanent damage to the brain.
The judges found an act of negligence in the process
of delaying helping the woman in labour to deliver.
Gasabo Intermediate court ordered King Faisal
Hospital to pay Rwf125 million in compensation to the child’s parents.
To my knowledge as a lawyer and particularly
handling medical malpractice cases, this is the highest amount a victim of
medical negligence has won from Rwandan courts.
Although the award was far from what we had prayed
to the court, the compensation sent a signal that medical negligence shall not
go unchecked and informs patients of their rights at health facilities.
I understand that there is not enough compensation
for lost or damaged life or enough to equate the joy the parents, like the ones
I represented, would receive from a healthy son.
But it is worth appreciating that the courts are
sending a message to health facilities to build better administration of how
their medical staffs provide health services to patients.
We all hope this case serves to end medical negligence.
Related stories:
King Faisal Hospital fined Rwf125m for medical negligence
The writer, Audace
Ngabo Muhirwa, is a litigant lawyer since 2014, a member of the Rwanda Bar
Association, a Council member of the Rwanda Bar Association, and a member of
the East African Law Society.
Email: Ngabo7777@gmail.com
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This is my second time of reading a story about great pain and losses caused to people by the farmers in doctors attire at king Faisal hospital 🏥. Everything should be revised
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