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By Pamela Chepkemei
Nairobi, Kenya: Phoebe Atieno took her son to a local hospital five years ago with the hope he would walk properly once the doctors rectified a condition that had afflicted his legs.
She was at PCEA Kikuyu Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Centre on September 17, 2008, accompanied by her sick four-year-old son Teddy Odhiambo who was to undergo corrective surgery.
However, her hopes were dimmed after the surgery to rectify Odhiambo’s rickety legs, instead damaged his brain.
Atieno in a compensation suit filed on behalf of the minor, at the High Court in Nairobi in 2010, accuses the hospital staff, who handled her son in the theatre, of negligence.
She is seeking Sh4 million as compensation but the hearing of the case has been slow. The case is yet to be concluded, more than three years down the line.
During the last mention, on April 17, Atieno through her advocate made an application to have the court compel the hospital to disclose the name of the anaesthetist who handled her son during the surgery.
She has told the court it is important for her case to have the anaesthetist included as a defendant. She had initially named the hospital and the medic who performed the operation, Dr John King’ori, only as the defendants.
The hospital’s lawyer requested for more time to enable him consult and find out if it is possible to have the name disclosed. High Court Judge Hatari Waweru allowed the request.
Atieno describes her son (before the complications) as a boy “bubbling with life” until September 17.
According to the suit papers, he was taken to the theatre where he went into cardiac arrest after anaesthetic drugs were administered on him.
Atieno claims the drugs were administered wrongly. But the hospital and King’ori have denied the accusations. The two defendants deny the boy was healthy before the operation.
“At the time he was admitted in hospital, he was not ‘bubbling with life’ as alleged, but malnourished. He was suffering from rickets, he had delayed milestones among others and required corrective milestones,” said King’ori.
The doctor has further denied the hospital employees through their negligence caused the boy to suffer cardiac arrest and brain damage as alleged by the mother.
Atieno argues the doctor failed to take into consideration Odhiambo’s feebleness and ought to have known the drugs could cause cardiac arrest on a child.
Hospital defies orders
She claims her son suffered injuries such as stiff neck, generalised increased muscle tone, twitching and cerebral shrinking and damage, leading to slurred speech.
On October 7, 2008 the boy underwent brain scan at Kenyatta National Hospital which revealed he had developed neck retraction, cerebral shrinking and damage.
She claims, the boy, who was four years old at the time of the incident, now needs corrective surgery, post-surgical care and attention and a full-time caretaker. She also claims to have lost her job at Sara Lee, Ruaraka, where she was earning Sh9,000 a month because she had been forced to spend time with the boy in hospital.
The suit was lodged in court after the hospital refused to honour directions by the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board to compensate the family of the boy. The court allowed Atieno to file the suit as pauper.
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