Free State Health must pay US$1m to a SA technician who was working abroad, to compensate for loss of earnings following a botched heart bypass procedure carried out at the Universitas Academic Hospital in Bloemfontein, reports Volksblad. A further R509,000 must be paid for general damages and medical expenses.
The Free State MEC for Health has been ordered to pay more than $1m in damages to a 74-year-old civil engineering technician after a botched heart operation in a state hospital, Volksblad reports.
Carel Pieter Wentzel sustained burn wounds on the operating table due to negligence and about 1.5kg of his flesh had to be removed. Judge LJ Lekale, of the Free State High Court, granted an order for Wentzel’s loss of income amounting to $1,087,300 and R509,000 for general damages and medical expenses.
Wentzel was working as a consultant in other African countries and was earning US dollars when he returned in May 2009 to undergo a heart bypass procedure in the Universitas Academic Hospital in Bloemfontein.
[link url="http://www.netwerk24.com/Nuus/Hof/lur-moet-1-miljoen-opdok-na-wond-tydens-operasie-20161211"]Volksblad report[/link]