Tribunal finds doctor guilty of patient’s death

By EMMANUEL WERE

A medical tribunal has sent back to class a doctor found guilty of causing a patient’s death. In a landmark ruling by the Medical Practitioners and Dentist Board on Thursday, the tribunal ruled that Dr Jackson Mutuku Mutinda’s caused the death of Fanice Mebo Khashindi on February 21, 2008.

The Medical Board directed Prof Zahida Praveen Qureshi to supervise Mutinda for six months and report back to the Medical Board.

Dr Mutinda was ordered by the Medical Practitioners and Dentist Board to retrain at the Kenyatta National Hospital. He will be attached at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University of Nairobi. The Standard has been running a medical negligence campaign for the last two weeks, in efforts to reform the field of medicine in the country.

The ruling is likely to send shockwaves in Kenya’s medical fraternity where rising cases of medical negligence have led to suffering, including deaths.

One of every five patients either die or are deformed as a result of medical negligence according to data from pathologists.

Further questions, from the public, are likely to arise from the board tribunal’s findings when it ruled on the matter.

Dr Mutinda was found not to have a specialist recognition certificate, a part time private licence and a locum licence at the time he was operating on the patient in 2008. He also did not have a personal professional indemnity cover.

While practising at Nairobi Women’s Hospital, Dr Mutinda performed an operation on Fanice Mebo Khashindi on February 21, 2008. The operation was to remove fibroids, growths in the uterus. However, the patient continued bleeding that evening and Dr Mutinda decided to undertake another operation.

But when they went back to theater, the patient was bleeding and responsive, according to statements recorded at the tribunal. Ms Khashindi was transferred to Aga Khan University Hospital where she died on February 29, 2008 after excessive bleeding. Joyce Khatioli, Fanice’s sister, lodged a complaint in 2009 against the Nairobi Women’s Hospital and the doctor, Jackson Mutinda, accusing both parties of professional negligence in the manner they handled the patient.

Full probe

The board in its ruling said Dr Mutinda had not carried out a full investigation on the matter.

“There was also no evidence of a full examination of the patient and records of regular monitoring of the vital signs in the postoperative periods both after the first and second operations,” reads the tribunal’s ruling.

The tribunal also found Dr Mutinda, being a junior gynaecologist, did not consult one of his seniors before he decided to carry out the second operation.

In the inquiry conducted by the medical board tribunal, Dr Kigen Bartilol, who was Dr Mutinda’s supervisor, noted there was no need for the second operation.

“He (Dr Bartilol) stated that he later reviewed the matter and noted that the patient had a hb of 8.9 g/dl and an operation should not have been undertaken unless it was an emergency case,” reads the tribunal’s ruling.

Hb refers to the Hemoglobin count in the body and is measured in grams per deciliter. A normal hemoglobin level for women is 12.1 - 15.1g/dl while for men it’s 13.8 – 17.2. The tribunal put Dr Mutinda on probation for a period of six months also under the supervision of Professor Qureshi. While on probation his part time licence will be withdrawn for the entire period.  This means he will not be able to operate or set up his own clinic and must work under supervision of a senior practitioner in any hospital.

Furthermore, Dr Mutinda shall pay part costs of the board sitting as a tribunal amounting to Sh150,000 before the end of June.