Minor surgery led to six more and bill of over Sh6 million

By Maureen Odiwuor

Kisumu, Kenya: Brian Okuthe has lived for four years under close medical supervision due to an operation his family alleges was conducted unprofessionally, resulting to six more surgeries to correct complication of the first?one.

After the first operation, instead of healing, Okuthe developed malignant infection on the wound that turned septic and a perforated intestine that leaked.

The first operation was done four years ago and cost the family Sh317,201, but it forced them spent Sh5.3 million more and still have pending debt of close to Sh2 million, at the Nairobi Hospital. Okuthe was taken to Nairobi Hospital to correct the first surgery after his health moved from bad to worse.

The aftermath of the operation even made him skip sitting KCSE at Sawagongo Secondary School because he was hospitalised for four months.

The family filed a civil suit at the Kisumu High Court eight months ago with Okuthe as the plaintiff.?The Aga Khan Hospital is the first defendant and their Resident Surgeon Dr Costa Mariwa the second defendant.

The respondents who were served in August last year, served Okuthe?through Okongo and Wandago Company and Advocates on April 8 this year?with a defense response to the case whose hearing began on May 9.?

The two are accused of using wrong procedure, wrongfully applying medication and discharged Okuthe from the facility while in a?sensitive situation.

In the affidavit, Okuthe and his father say he was admitted at?the facility on August 6, 2009, with vomiting symptoms and was treated for malaria. When the symptoms persisted, scanning was done and Mariwa advised  he needed to undergo an operation to correct a minor obstruction in his digestive system.

“Four days later he underwent the Laparectomy (excision of abdominal?wall strips to correct laxity of the muscles) which was later found to have been?unnecessary, ill-advised, poorly and unskillfully done and negligently performed on him,” reads a section of the suit.

In his defense, Mariwa claims the boy had a previous scar due to past surgeries hence the operation was complicated and took close to four hours. He also claims to have informed Okuthe’s father Odera Anton about the likelihood of a fistula formation as a common complication of the operation.

He doctor claims he proposed for another operation which the family did not accept, but went ahead to get the patient out of the hospital without being discharged or signing a ‘leave against the medical advice’ form.

Doctors’ testmony

Cases of doctor negligence are rarely unheard of, not because they don’t happen but because in most circumstances very few people report such incidences. There is a worrying trend among lawyers who have admitted to shunning representation of doctor negligence.

Federation for Women Lawyers (Fida) Western Kenya Coordinator Jacqueline Ingutiah says most of the cases against doctor negligence never succeed because in rare circumstances do doctors testify against?their colleagues.

Her concern is reiterated by Law Society of Kenya Western Kenya chair Richard Onsongo.

The Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board is mandated with the?responsibility of ensuring Kenyans are offered the most effective and efficient medical services available by ensuring the medical practitioners and dentists are qualified.