Misdiagnosis: Nairobi man had heart disease but was treated for TB

Clay Khama Ngoye shows a scar he sustained after operation at his Goma village in Usenge, Siaya County on August 25, 2016 after two successful operations in India in May this year. Clay was misdiagnosed with liver problem ten years ago which he has been under medication only to realize he was suffering from heart disease. (PHOTO: DENISH OCHIENG/ STANDARD)

Ten years ago, Clay Khama Ngoye, 43, was a young man full of hopes for a great future. Fresh from the university, he secured a job as a sales representative with Unilever East Africa.

But that hope was dashed six months later when he started feeling unwell and was forced to take leave.

“I could ask for permission from time to time to go for treatment before I was forced to take a sick leave from work because I was too weak to perform my duties,” says Khama, a vet. In 2007, he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), a contagious bacterial infection that affects the lungs. It may spread to other organs.

After diligently taking TB drugs for six months, another test revealed he had no TB. His condition worsened and he became temporarily immobile. He was later diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, a disease which involves loss of liver cells and irreversible scarring of the liver.

He was put on medication, but he was not cured. The father of one was forced to relocate from Nairobi to his ancestral home in Goma Village, Siaya County. He was in and out of hospitals, spending at least Sh10, 000 per week. Further tests revealed that he was on the last stage of the liver complication and the only solution was a liver transplant. The treatment was to cost Sh4.5 million in India.

Through friends and family, he managed to raise about Sh2 million and was flown to India for treatment early this year.

“In India, the doctors ran numerous tests on my organs and they established that I had a heart and kidney problem...,” he says.

In India, doctors conducted the first heart surgery on him on May 20 followed by kidney surgery 10 days later. “It has been 10 years since my life changed, my dreams of excelling in life almost cut short by a disease I never had,” Khama says, calling on doctors to take their time on diagnosis to give the right treatment.

He spent at least Sh2 million on the surgery, which is less than what he has spent for ten years.

According to the Siaya County Director of Health, Dr Samuel Omondi, any medical malpractice should always be reported to the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board.

“When a doctor’s diagnosis error leads to incorrect treatment, delayed treatment, or no treatment at all, a patient’s condition can be made worse, and they may even die,” he says. However, he notes that a mistake in diagnosis by itself is not enough to sustain a medical malpractice lawsuit.