FATIMA SCHROEDER WEEKEND ARGUS-21 August 2016
The Minister of Defence will have to pay damages for the failure of military doctors to diagnose the 13-year- old son of a firefighter with swine flu, says the Western Cape High Court .
Torrian Marthinus , now 20 , was left untreated for almost a week in August 2009 and developed meningitis – an illness which affected his brain and led to seizures that affected his academic performance.
The amount of damages to be paid has not been decided. Marthinus was sent to a military hospital since his father was a military firefighter.
“The doctors did not have the treatment notes from our client’s previous visits to the hospital before them,” Tzvi Brivik Marthinus’s attorney, told Weekend Argus.
“This placed them at a disadvantage when rendering appropriate… medical care. They had to rely on the patient, who was a minor; or his father, who was not medically trained, to provide a medical history.”
Brivik said patients could not be expected to give a comprehensive medical history.
“The Health Act 61 of 2003 obliges a health establishment to ensure health records containing prescribed information are created and maintained for every user of its health service.”
Brivik said Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) guidelines said patient records had to be kept, including handwritten notes. The court found Marthinus had had a week of flu-like symptoms and a severe headache as well as tenderness in his face.
He was first treated at Ysterplaat Sick Bay before his father took him to 2 Military Hospital. While tests established he had swine flu, doctors treating him failed to diagnose the meningitis until about six days later.
An expert testified Marthinus’s severe frontal headache and a high temperature were classic symptoms of meningitis.
She said a lumbar puncture should have been done and Marthinus treated with antibiotics.
Acting Judge Janet McCurdie found the doctors failed to examine Marthinus, take down his medical history or make detailed notes available to others who were treating him.
This caused a delay in the diagnosis and contributed to the complications he suffered and “falls far short of the required standard of care to be provided to patients”.
Access to patient records was not a luxury but a necessity.
The judge found the doctor who treated Marthinus was negligent and failed to act with the degree of professional skills and care that could be reasonably expected of a GP.
“The evidence demonstrates that prompt diagnosis and treatment would have prevented the severity of the sequel suffered by Torrian,” she concluded.
The Minister was ordered to pay Marthinus the amount of damages which he could prove and cover his legal costs.
Click the link to view article online: Minister must pay damages in swine flu case – Cape Argus E-dition
