Couple Files Lawsuit Alleging Doctor Negligence Led to Infant’s Death

A devastated couple has filed a doctor negligence lawsuit, claiming medical staff at a hospital caused the death of their infant son. The parents allege complications from a fatal error made by medical personnel caused their three-week-old baby to die.

In January, the judicial inquiry opened at the Tredgold Magistrates’ Court in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The family claims that the baby, Perez Simbarashe Murovzi, died when a doctor allegedly failed to remove an elastic band on his arm for more than 13 hours, which cause the limb to become gangrenous and ultimately require an amputation. After the amputation, the infant did not receive a transfusion in a timely manner, causing him to lose a significant amount of blood, which led to his untimely death.

Doctor negligence lawsuit

During the first day of the inquest, the infant’s father Simbarashe Murozvi told the court that medical professionals recommended the amputation after the elastic error as a life-saving measure.

“My son fell sick on 22 May last year and we took him to Mpilo Hospital,” Murozvi said. “Upon getting to the hospital, he was treated and discharged. A day later, we took him back to hospital as there was no improvement in his condition and he was admitted.”

Murozvi said his son was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit the next day.

“I met the doctors who told me that the child was dehydrated but was going to be well as his condition wasn’t that bad,” Murozvi said. “They said he had to be put on drip. They also conducted a number of tests and they eventually told us that his kidneys were not functioning.”

When his child was first admitted to the hospital, Murozvi said he was crying and refusing to breastfeed or urinate.

“When I went back to the hospital, I was told that he was now urinating and we were elated that the condition of the child was improving,” he said.

However, Murozvi said his wife was in a panic state when he returned to the hospital on May 25, saying “doctors have injured the child.”

“We rushed to the ICU to assess the condition of the child,” he said. “His had had turned black in colour and we asked doctors that were present to tell us what had happened to the child, but none were forthcoming.”

Murozvi said they asked a hospital official what had happened and he told the couple that doctors had forgotten to remove an elastic band on the baby’s arm when searching for veins to insert a drip. He said they were told the blood cells in the infant’s arm were no longer functioning because of the elastic band and the only solution was to have the limb amputated, as the gangrene would move up further and affect the child’s lungs without the procedure.

Doctors failed to act in time

“We signed the papers for an amputation to be conducted on the same day, but the operation was only done two days later, on the 27th,” Murozvi said. “After the operation he was taken back to ICU, but it took him time to regain consciousness.”

However, although the infant had lost a significant amount of blood, he failed to receive a transfusion in a timely manner. When he finally did get the transfusion, his body is said to have rejected it.

The next day, the couple was called to the ICU, where they were told the infant had died.

“My grandson died due to negligence and we weren’t allowed to even approach the doctors for an explanation,” said the child’s grandmother, Ruth Busumani. “They had the guts to operate on my grandson knowing there was no blood and they only did a blood transfusion three hours after the operation.”

She claims the child vomited blood for hours, while nurses continued to assure the family that it was normal and he was fine.

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