Doctor ordered to pay relatives of woman who died during operation

Njoki Ng’ethe, a mother of three, unexpectedly developed pregnancy complications on April 12, 2008.

Though generally not life threatening, the complications led to her death after a mistake by a doctor who attended to her.

Dr Johnston Akatu was ordered by the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board to compensate her family. In addition, he was told to pay the board Sh75,000.

Mr James Ng’ethe, the woman’s husband, explained what led to the death as he testified before an eight-member team set up by the board.

One of the members was Mr Daniel Yumbya.

Mr Ng’ethe said his wife visited Dr Akatu at his Elgon View Medical Cottage in Bungoma Town after she developed pregnancy complications.

She knew Dr Akatu’s clinic as he often attended to her.

After an examination, the doctor recommended that she be admitted to the clinic since he needed to perform an emergency Caesarean section.

Mr Ng’ethe said a friend at the hospital called him shortly after the admission.

He told the board that he was alarmed when he arrived at the hospital and found that there was a power outage and the generators were not working.

One of the fundamental requirements of a theatre is uninterrupted power supply.

Mr Ng’ethe told the team investigating the cause of the death that he never signed the consent form allowing the hospital to carry out the operation.

He said when he arrived his wife was in theatre and had delivered a baby girl, who was handed over to him.

“I was given the baby and told that the patient was still in the theatre. I was not accompanied by a nurse as I took the baby to Bungoma District Hospital on transfer,” Mr Ng’ethe told the board.

After the baby was moved to the hospital, he returned to the clinic to check on his wife.

Mr Ng’ethe said that when he arrived he saw Dr Akatu driving out of the clinic.

He said he tried to ask him the condition of his wife, but the doctor drove off without saying a word.

A nurse at the clinic broke the news to him — his wife died during the operation. Mrs Ng’ethe, who had eaten chicken and ugali before the operation choked to death.

A patient should not eat anything a few hours before an operation because it causes complications.

ALLOWED THE PATIENT TO EAT

So was the doctor aware that she had taken food before the operation?

According to Mr Ng’ethe, his wife drank some soft drink and ate food that had been brought by her friends while Dr Akatu was present.

“The main allegation against the clinic was allowing the patient to eat while she was due for an operation,” said the board in its ruling.

Dr Akatu told the board that Mrs Ng’ethe arrived at the clinic at 3pm and on examining her, he discovered that she was “draining liquor”, which was not good for the unborn baby, hence the need for surgery.

Due to the urgency of the matter, Dr Akatu told the board, he made frantic efforts to reach the husband, who arrived at the clinic at 7.30pm.

At 8pm, the “liquor” had worsened, which meant that the unborn baby was unsafe, with the patient not in active labour.

“He then decided to undertake a Caesarean section but gave the patient and her husband time to discuss and give him the consent to proceed,” says the board’s report.

Although Dr Akatu was aware that the patient had eaten, he decided that surgery was necessary if the unborn child was to be saved.

The operation began at 10pm and the baby was extracted with a cord around the neck.

During the middle of the operation, there was a power blackout and the generators also failed. They then opted to use a chargeable portable lamp. The patient lost 1.2 litres of blood.

“He then realised that the patient had breathing problems and they tried to resuscitate her without success,” says the board’s report.