The young woman who was rendered barren due to the negligence of a medical team which performed a caesarean section on her at the Brong-Ahafo Regional Hospital in Sunyani and left an operation towel in her abdomen, has finally died out of the injustice. She died on Saturday, October 15, 2016, at a Sunyani-based private hospital.
The Chronicle, in 2013, published a story in which a team of medical doctors from the above hospital, on October 7, 2010, performed a caesarean section on Mrs. Ernestina Adade Konadu, who was expecting her first child, after being pregnant for 9 months.
Unfortunately, not only did she lose her baby, but also went home with unbearable pains and other complications.
The once pretty and energetic young lady suffered a deteriorating medical condition, which as a result, she could not engage in any hard work.
Mrs. Adade Konadu became a burden onto her husband and the family, after losing her job as a Health Assistant at the Sunyani Seventh Day Adventist Hospital.
The Chronicle on Monday, June 13, 2016, visited her at her residence in Baakoniaba, a suburb of Sunyani, where Mrs. Adade Konadu expressed anger at the medical team that undertook the operation for a tactless act that nearly cost her life and has rendered her barren, because of the operational towel they left in her abdomen.
According to Mrs. Adade Konadu, she endured severe abdominal pains for over a year before diagnosis at a different health facility, also in Sunyani, revealed that the pain she had been experiencing is as a result of an object lodged in her abdomen.
A subsequent operation to remove the object revealed that an operation towel had been left in her abdomen, after the caesarean section a year ago.
The medical report also revealed that the operation to remove the towel from her abdomen rendered her barren, meaning she could no longer conceive and bear children.
She reported the matter to the authorities of the Brong-Ahafo Regional Hospital in Sunyani to see how best they could assist her with the payment of her medical bills and some compensation.
The hospital authorities assured her that they would investigate the case and later get back to her and the family.
After investigations into the matter, the authorities of the Brong Ahafo Regional Hospital confirmed and recognized the incidence of negligence on the part of the medical team, but said the hospital was not in a position to pay compensation to her.
The statement of the authorities of the Regional Hospital did not go down well with Mrs. Adade Konadu and her family.
The Health Assistant, therefore, filed a suit at the Court to demand an amount of GHc150, 000 as compensation from the hospital The hospital, however, pleaded with the Court to allow the two parties settle the matter out of court, which was agreed, but they failed to engage Mrs. Adade Konadu and her family as agreed, therefore, the matter was sent back to the Court.
For the second time, the Hospital pleaded to settle the matter out of court, which was granted, but the Hospital refused to show interest and urgency in the case.
Mrs. Adade Konadu told The Chronicle that she became furious when the Matron of the Hospital stated at one of their meetings to discuss her compensation that they could only afford a paltry GHc1, 000.
According to her, her anger stems from the fact that because her condition had deteriorated so badly, she was compelled to visit the Hospital frequently and that the amount the Matron suggested was not enough to pay her medical bills and transportation.
She narrated that several attempts to get the management of the Hospital to come to the negotiation table did not yield any positive result and she was compelled to go back to the court.
Her situation before her death was too bad that her husband sometimes had to forgo his work to take care of her because sometimes, even moving around becomes a major challenge, as she lost so much weight and energy because she could not eat anything heavy.
Mrs Adade Konadu, during The Chronicle’s last visit at her house said management of the Brong-Ahafo Regional Hospital does not want to pay any compensation, because they (Hospital management) know that she could no longer foot her medical bills, which would lead to her early death and render the case useless.
True to her words, the Hospital Authority failed to compensate her and on Saturday, October 15, 2016, Mrs. Ernestina Adade Konadu died after the long suffering.
The family is yet to disclose the next line of action in terms of seeking compensation from the Hospital Authority.
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