Playing Russian roulette with patients’ lives

A patient suffering from pneumonia but treated for malaria will have few chances of survival. Despite being killers, both diseases are curable but only when accurate diagnosis is made.

In many cases, doctors and hospitals have been able to get away with this kind of negligence because the families of victims do not have the means to investigate the actual cause of death, neither do they have knowledge that would enable them question the doctor’s ability and professional conduct.

This, however, is changing. Kenyans are more educated, more informed and keenly aware of their rights and avenues through which they can pursue professionals whose negligence causes them unwarranted suffering or snuffs out the lives of their loved ones.

Cases of complaints filed with Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board are piling up each day and the board can hardly cope.

In simple terms, the government will be hit by waves of expensive lawsuits.

By all accounts, the government does not have the money to spend on compensation of claims resulting from professional negligence.

It would be more prudent to move with speed to equip professionals with the right tools to carry their duties and at the same time enforce professional discipline among medical staff.

This, in turn, will restore the confidence of the public in health institutions that are funded at a great cost by taxpayers.