By Grace Q. Bryant
The Civil Law Court is expected to hear the US$1.5m damages lawsuit filed against the Management of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center (JFK) by a patient, Karen Gayduo Sehkelporh.
She was admitted at the JFK on June 12, 2019, for the surgery which was scheduled for June 13, and was discharged on June 16, 2019, with the assurance that the surgery had gone well and she was going to fully recover.
According to the complainant, Ernest Enders and Billy Johnson, the doctors at the JFK Hospital, performed an Abdominal Hysterectomy Surgery, which was needed to have her ovaries removed due to possible ovarian cancer.
She stated that during her first visit to the hospital after the surgery, she was cleared by Dr. Enders after examination, who informed her that she could go back to work and perform other activities.
However, despite being cleared, she began experiencing pains in her belly and legs upon her return to work.
She further explained that she informed Dr. Enders of the pains she was experiencing and he advised her to go back to the JFK, where he gave her prescription drugs which she purchased from Lucky Pharmacy. She, however, did not respond to any of the treatment.
According to the complaint, the situation continued for over a period of five months without any improvement, drained her financially, and Dr. Enders showed no interest in helping her out, despite being in constant communication with him.
She allegedly claimed that doctors at the hospital left an abdominal gauze in her body after a surgery, thereby causing further pains and complications.
She further explained that with the help of her boss, she sought additional checkup at Jahmale Health Center, which advised her to go back to JFK, as they opined that she had serious medical issues that needed to be addressed by JFK.
She then decided to visit Fidelity Health Center because of the severity of the pains.
There, she was admitted at Fidelity by Dr. Obed Dolo, through an arrangement with the Mitchell Group Inc. (TMG), to guarantee her stay at Fidelity, since she did not have money to make an initial deposit before getting admitted.
She spent three weeks in isolation because of the level of bacteria that was in her system, which could result to her death, the complaint noted. There was also foul odor coming out of her body.
According to her, Dr. Dolo performed the surgery at Fidelity and opened the previous surgery done by Dr. Enders at the JFK, to see what the cause of her having pus in her belly was that caused her stomach to swell.
“To the astonishment of the doctors, there was abdominal gauze found inside her body, with pieces of her flesh stuck on it,” she stated in the complaint.
She lamented that when JFK management was informed about the incident, they only expressed regrets without helping in her recovery.
“Plaintiff further avers and says she was finally discharged from the hospital, but after a few days, she went to take a shower and felt a thread hanging from her vagina and immediately went back to Fidelity Hospital to see her Doctor.
After his test, he immediately realized that it was another piece of gauze hanging out of her body and she was immediately admitted for another surgery. She was scheduled for the third surgery and the JFK was immediately notified. The surgery was done and the doctor informed her that she had developed fistula,” the complaint stated.
