This archive report was first published on 20 September 2019.
Kenya: Court Orders Hospital to Pay Mother Sh25m for Medical Negligence ¶
Published on September 20, 2019
A 30-year-old mother has been awarded Sh25 million by the High Court in Meru after she became disabled following a medical treatment at St John of God Hospital in Tigania.
Justice Alfred Mabeya ruled that the staff at the hospital had caused the harm on Ms Lucy Kinya after injecting her when she visited the health centre.
Ms Kinya had told the court she arrived at the hospital on June 25, 2016 to give birth to her twins and while in the theatre she received four injections on her spine at around 8am.
She regained consciousness nine hours later but when she tried to rise up, she was unable to move her feet which had turned black.
The court heard that medics testified that she had indeed suffered permanent disability and would require life time care and other expenses.
Dr Nicholas Koome Guantai, a medical officer based at the Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital told the court that Ms Kinya would require physiotherapy, catheter changes and pressure sores which are inevitable.
The defendants had denied the allegations saying they were not liable for the actions of the doctor and hospital staff who administered the harmful injection.
Justice Mabeya awarded her Sh6million general damages, Sh7.2m for a caregiver, Sh3.24 million for loss of earnings, Sh1.2million for special damages and Sh8 million for future medical expenditure.
