A Limpopo woman is livid after nurses at Seshego hospital allegedly gave her eight-month-old son an expired antibiotic.
The baby died within minutes, and the doctor and the on-duty nurse allegedly tried to cover up the death.
Manare Alice Mamabolo took her baby, Blessings, to the hospital after he experienced a mild fever on October 11.
While she was still waiting for the doctor to examine the baby, the child’s temperature reportedly stabilised, but the doctor recommended that his blood samples be taken.
Mamabolo said the doctor discharged the baby afterwards, but as they were about to leave the health facility, a nurse came with a syringe and insisted on injecting the boy with some medication.
I could see my child had passed on
She said shortly after the injection, the baby reacted negatively to the medication, and the injected leg started swelling.
His lungs struggled to pump oxygen, leading to a seizure as the baby started to vomit foam.
“When I started calling out my son’s name, he was non-responsive. I started shouting, asking what was happening to my child because he was being discharged,” said Mamabolo.
“The nurse told me that the antibiotic was good for him and that when it reached his system, it triggered his temperature to rise.”
She explained further: “I asked her why all of a sudden the temperature had risen because the doctor said it had stabilised.
“She told me that the baby is no longer breathing. At that moment, I could see that my son had passed on.
“They still took him to an intensive care unit [ICU], but even from a laywoman’s observation, I could see that the machines were not responding.”
Cover-up
She added that the nurse told her that her son should be transferred to Tshilidzini Hospital, about 300km from Seshego in Limpopo.
“They told me that they don’t have an ICU ward and that their efforts to book him at the provincial hospital in Polokwane, Mankweng or Lebowakgomo were unsuccessful.
“The paramedics drove us to Venda and just after passing Botlokwa, the ambulance stopped and the paramedics asked me how my son was prior to their arrival.
“They told me that we could not proceed with the journey as they did not have the baby’s file.
“I was shocked but not surprised because I knew from the onset when we left Seshego that my son had already passed on.
“The doctor and the nurse at Seshego just called the ambulance to create a cover-up to avoid the fact that my son died while under their care.”
Medico-legal claims
Mamabolo said when she needed his son’s file for a postmortem, she was subjected to frustrating procedures, which forced her to consider taking the legal route.
She said: “My lawyer advised me to continue with steps to acquire details of the postmortem so that we can bury the child this weekend.
“However, once the burial is done, we are going to sue the hospital for their medical negligence.”
Over the years, the department has been sued for medical negligence.
Sunday World understands that it has paid out R266.8-million in medico-legal claims from January 2020 to December 2023 from 30 claims.
The department also had 903 medico-legal claims filed against it and spent R63.1-million on legal costs.
Strategies to reduce litigation are failing
DA spokesperson on health, Liny Wilson, said her party was deeply concerned by the department’s continuously rising medico-legal liabilities, mainly because of medical negligence.
“The rising number of claims in Limpopo shows that hospital conditions in the province are not improving but continue to worsen,” said Wilson.
“The province’s health facilities are in an appalling state, and the hundreds of millions spent on medical negligence claims could vastly improve the condition of our healthcare facilities.
“These claims threaten to bankrupt and collapse the health system in the province, and the departmental strategies to reduce litigation, improve governance, and improve the quality of healthcare residents receive are failing.”
