Wrongful surgery case.... Korle-Bu Refuses Boy Medical Attention

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday,July21,2006
The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital authorities turned turned away the teenage boy who has sued the haspital for negligence, when he went for a medical review on July10, the fast Track High Court trying the suit, heard on Wednesday.

Mr. Thomas Hughes, counsel for Frank Darko,14, said in a statement at the start of the day's hearing that a man called Charles and on of the hospital matrons told his client that the hospital was no more responsible for his healthcare.

"They have meatl in his leg but are refusing to treat him," Mr. Hughes told the court before his client's mother,Mrs. Gladys Darko was cross-examined.

He said he has written to the Ghana Medical and Dental Council to protest the treatment meted out to his client.

Mr. Hughes therefore asked for leave to amend the plaintiff’s statement of case to include the latest development but Mr. Shadrack Arhin, the defence counsel, objected saying, “amendment can be done anytime and this cannot halt the cross examination”.

Mr. Arhin expressed surprise at the new development and said counsel could have alerted him to cross check the facts before telling the court since that was the practice at the bar.

Mr. Justice E.K. Ayebi, the trial judge, upheld the defence's objection.

Frank Darko, sued the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for ¢800 million for negligence.

The suit, filed through Frank’s mother, Mrs Gladys Darko, cites the governing board of the hospital as well as Dr Kennedy Addo, Dr Korpisah and Dr Agbeko, all employees of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, for a “wrongful operation” they conducted on Frank on September13, last year.

The doctors, according to the suit, operated on Frank’s left knee instead of the right, after he had been diagnosed of a torn patella ligament.The suit further claimed that the boy’s father suffered a cardiac arrest and died as a result of the doctors’ negligence.

Mrs Darko, the first witness, during the cross-examination said the hospital did not charge her for the surgery on the right knee but added that she paid ¢10,000 anytime she took the son to the hospital for physiotherapy review.

She denied telling the doctors that she applied traditional medicine on the boy’s knee debunking a suggestion by Mr. Arhin that the act had aggravated the boy’s situation.

Mrs Darko told the court that she did not send the son to any other hospital apart from the Korle-Bu.

“We attended the review twice every week and we went on 12 occasions until we could not go again due to lack of funds” she added.

Proceedings were adjourned to July 28.