Thursday, 28 March, 2024
HomeMedico-LegalLimpopo Health pays for botched operation

Limpopo Health pays for botched operation

A Polokwane woman is due to receive R200,000 in damages from the Limpopo MEC for Health after she was admitted to hospital for a hernia operation, but the doctors removed tissue from her leg instead. Pretoria News reports that Susanna Cornelia Nell stated in papers before the High Court in Pretoria, that apart from the wrong operation being performed, her wounds became septic as she did not receive adequate treatment. She was sent home the day after the operation without any post-operative care, Nell said.

She claimed R520,000 in damages, but the MEC settled the claim by offering R200 000. The hospital at first denied all liability, claiming that Nell had received adequate care, but it later accepted 100% liability for the damages she had suffered.

Nell said that apart from suffering chronic pain, she now has unsightly surgical scars. She also suffered emotional shock and psychological trauma due to her ordeal, she said.

[link url="http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/payout-for-woman-in-botched-op-case-1.1811471#.VNCZedKUfE0"]Full Pretoria News report[/link]

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