Ten years later, ‘wrong TB patient’ yet to get justice

By Willis Oketch

 Mombasa, Kenya:  When Mrs Caroline Menganga Joseph was at the peak of her nursing profession 14 years ago she developed fever and cough.

She recalls that after the situation persisted she sought medical attention from one of the doctors at Pandya Memorial Hospital in Mombasa where she was working.

She went to Dr Fathiya Abdalla on June 16, 1999, who later diagnosed her to be infected with tuberculosis and was placed on anti-TB injection for four weeks.

It later turned out Menganga had been wrongly diagnosed with tuberculosis forcing her to seek legal redress in the court on August 21, 2000.

Strangely, now 13 years down the line, Menganga, who sought damages for wrongful diagnosis following the doctor’s alleged negligence, is yet to get justice.

Pandya Hospital and Dr Fathiya have denied responsibility and have always sought dismissal of the case.

When Menganga first went to court she was 55 years after working as a nurse in the same hospital. But as soon as she was taken ill and diagnosed with TB, she lost the job. Now the 69-year-old is in poor health and still struggling with the wheels of justice at the Mombasa Law Courts.

She says she has given evidence but fears she might not get justice soon as she is now aged and the legal processes have taken ‘too long’. Among other reasons for the delay, the hearing has not been smooth due to failure by key witnesses to testify, which caused persistent adjournments.

Besides most judges involved in this case have been transferred forcing further delays that involve passing proceedings to new judges.

“I do not know if this case will ever come to an end,” says Menganga, who is always accompanied by her son to the court for the hearings.

She says it is understandable to suppose professionals can make mistakes, but adds that, in her case, the doctor in question put her on a streptomycin injection at a rate of 1g daily for a duration of four weeks without conducting a mandatory investigation of TB before being placed on such drugs.

Menganga now says, at no time did she suffer from any symptoms of active pulmonary tuberculosis as alleged in the disputed diagnosis and that even the chest x-ray test carried by the hospital did not reveal she was suffering from the disease in question. She has sued the hospital and the doctor for wrongfully diagnosing her with pulmonary tuberculosis and wrongfully placing her on anti- tuberculosis drugs.

Worsening Condition

Menganga went to court in 2000 through lawyer Gikandi Ngibuini. She also sued Pandya Memorial Hospital for damages which made her suffer toxicity to the 8th cranial nerve, which has made her ataxic with severe loss of senses.

The woman said following the diagnosis of the drug, she lost her mental stability, which has made her live unbalanced life. In a letter to the hospital dated July 18, 2000, her lawyer says “as a result of uncalled for use of anti-TB medication to which our client was unjustifiably put” Menganga had suffered “immeasurable, irreversible and irreparable loss and damage.”

She says in the affidavit sworn on August 21, 2000, following the alleged wrongful and unprofessional conduct by Fathiya, she has developed persistent fever, anaemia and unduly enlarged lymph nodes. She accuses the doctor of negligence, incompetence and lack of skill for which she sought damages.

She claims her complications could not have occurred if Fathiya observed the dictates of her training and profession well.

Among other claims Menganga claims Fathiya failed to review or revise her original diagnosis even as her condition worsened while she was undergoing TB treatment.