• The parents of the child in 2017 sought medical care from the hospital when the wife was pregnant
• The child was diagnosed with Klumpkys Palsy, established to have resulted from a difficult delivery
A hospital in Accra, Sam-J Specialist Hospital, has received a heavy slapping on their back for medical negligence that led to a baby suffering from paralysis in the right arm, graphic.com.gh has reported.
The Commercial Division of the Accra High Court has asked the hospital to pay GH¢326,456 in damages to the family of Kofi Duffour and Joyce Akyaah Barnes, parents of the baby.
According to the report, this amount includes general damages of GH¢200,000 and costs of GH¢20,000 against the hospital and its owner, Dr. Amoo Mensah.
It continued that the court had ruled that the hospital negligently failed to live up to professional medical standards in providing antenatal care for the baby’s mother.
Details of the case are that in March 2017, the parents of the baby sought antenatal care from the Sam-J Specialist Hospital.
Dr Mensah, who is an obstetrician-gynecologist, was then assigned to care for the pregnant woman following which he advised her after a scan showed the size of the baby was too big, not to worry.
Another time, she said the doctor prescribed a diabetes medication for her without notice and without telling her what the medicine was for until she found out at the pharmacy.
The plaintiffs told the court that when the baby was born, it weighed 4.0 kilogrammes, stressing the woman during childbirth.
They added that it was further identified that gestational diabetes was the reason the baby was growing so large.
The report continued that the couple told the court that when their baby was born, he was diagnosed with a condition called Erbs Palsy by the hospital and later referred to the 37 Military Hospital.
There, he was given another diagnosis: Klumpkys Palsy — a paralysis of the arm due to an injury of the network of spinal nerves resulting from a difficult delivery.
It became clear to the couple, after reading widely on the condition, and from education from other health providers, that the mode of delivery of a baby the size of theirs, was the cause.
It was their conclusion that Dr. Mensah, noticing the size of the baby, failed to promptly advise them on such dangers.
They also told the court that they had, as a result, spent substantially on their son in seeking remedy to his condition, both here in Ghana and in India.
Although the defendant insisted that he was not negligent, the court, presided over by Justice Doreen G. Boakye-Agyei, ruled that “their expectations were dashed due to the defendants not adhering to their own ethical and professional standards,” against the hope by the parent that they would be offered the best medical care.
She concluded that they were liable for leaving the child handicapped for life and thereby slapped with the damage cost of GH¢326,456.
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