Two  doctors have been  found liable  for damages in a civil case that was lodged  by a city woman who suffered  a stroke.

The Plaintiff  in the matter, Loretta Mini, first showed  symptoms of a stroke  on April 17, 2007, but  was not admitted to a  hospital  until three  days later.

Judge Ashton Schippers  handed down his  judgment in the Western Cape High Court yesterday.

He found  that the  doctors, who were the defendants in the matter; ought to have  referred Mini to a hospital or specialist physician. They were  cited in the  judgement  only as Dr S. Chapeikin and Dr J. Sher.

According to  the  judgment , Mini was at  work  on April 17, 2007 , when  she  started  feeling  light – headed  and later in the  day , realised  that she was typing ‘nonsense”.

When she got up, she had  felt dizzy and walked “lopsided”. She had  consulted  that evening  with Chapeiken, who had prescribed  medication  for her blood pressure, as well as for dizziness and anxiety.

He also booked her off  work for  hypertension  and according to  his evidence, told her to  contact him  should the  symptoms persist or get worse.

Mini had testified  that she felt worse  the next day  and went for a consultation  with Sher, who concluded that Mini had suffered a mild stroke  as she was able to carry out tasks such as walk, undress herself and provide a full  history of her symptoms  without  any speech defect.

He had prescribed medication, booked  her off work for two to three weeks  and made an appointment  for a follow –up  consultation a few days later.

According to  Mini’s testimony , her condition  had  deteriorated “sharply” the  following  day. Her right  side had been  totally  lame. She had been  admitted to  hospital  on April 20, 2007, after getting  in touch with another doctor.

She had remained  in  hospital for several days and the following month, was admitted to a  rehabilitation  centre  for physiotherapy, occupational  therapy and counselling.

When it came to her work, however, she had been boarded  because she “could  no longer cope”  or meet  the requirements  for her position.

Judge Schippers declared  Sher and Chapeikin  liable “as joint wrongdoers” for damages.

While Mini has sued  for R922 638, the amount  in damages  is yet to be proved  and determined.

Leila.samodien@inl.co.za