$168,260 Payout For Death of Infant, Court Orders Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services has been ordered to pay a sum of $168,260 for the death of a child in 2015.

The plaintiff in this case is Viliame Tiko, the father of infant Kitione Waqa Tiko.

Tiko claimed damages saying that his infant died as a re­sult of negligence on the part of health officials.

Orders of the court are that the defendants pay a sum of $168,260 as compensation and summarily assessed costs of $3,000. Justice Mohamed Ajmeer presided over the case at the High Court in Lautoka. The judgment was on Decem­ber 7, 2020.

Background:

On 13 April, 2015 Tiko took his son to Ba Health Centre for medical attention and examination after a small piece of stick pierced the infant’s tongue the day before.

Staff nurse, Biudole Sokia advised Tiko to take the infant home and wash the injury with warm salt water.

Tiko in his statement of claim stated that he insisted his child see a doctor however, the nurse insisted that he take the infant home.

The nurse, without referring the infant to the doctor, pre­scribed two small bottles containing pink coloured fluid without the prescription and endorsement of the doctor.

Two days later Tiko rushed his infant back to Ba Health Centre saying that his child was not eating and that the side of his face was swelling and he was in pain.

The nurse after checking the infant’s injured tongue imme­diately referred the infant to a Dr Ranita.

Dr Ranita imme­diately referred the infant to the x-ray department in Ba Health Centre and straight after the x-ray without advising Tiko that the infant has to be rushed to the Lautoka Hospital.

According to Tiko, the nurse at Ba Health Centre did not follow the proper outpatient procedure, she failed to refer the infant to the doctor at the first instance which led to the infection of the injury and the deterioration of the infant’s injury.

When the infant was referred to Lautoka Hospital and without further medical examination the plaintiff and the infant were directed to the surgery room where he was ad­vised that the infant would undergo a surgery.

The plaintiff alleged the following negligent acts oc­curred at the Surgery Department, Lautoka Hospital:

• Failing to properly inform the detail information of the seriousness of the infection to the injury.
• Failing to show the results of the x-ray whether or not fragments of pieces of stick present in the injury. Without that information it led the infant to undergo surgery.
• Failed to carry out the surgery with care since it led the infant being declared brain dead.
• Allowing the infant to go for a surgical operation when it was not necessary when there were available medical procedures.

On April 16, 2015, the infant died of anaesthesia complica­tions which has a high occurrence in infants.

Tiko alleged that the infant’s health worsened because some of the nurses were not consulting the doctors when giving injections.

When he raised this issue with the doctor, he was in­formed that the nurses were wrong.