News / Health
Woman fights for life after being given wrong medication
23 May 2013 at 03:46hrs | Views
A MUTARE woman is in a serious medical condition after she was allegedly put on tuberculosis treatment, yet she was suffering from a different ailment altogether. The medical boob follows a recent one in which another woman died following two major operations conducted by a local gynaecologist.
Vimbai Ndongwe (25) is now battling for life at Mutare Provincial Hospital where she is due to undergo operation for a complicated stomach ailment that is making her excrete bucket loads of puss daily.
Her husband, Mandlankosi Mguni, is bitter saying his wife's condition deteriorated at the beginning of the year after she was wrongly put on tuberculosis treatment for two months by a medical doctor (name withheld) at a mission hospital in Mutare.
He said what started as a simple headache has turned into a litany of ailments because his wife reacted to the wrongly prescribed TB treatment. The situation has also dug deep into his pockets having used more than $4 000 in medical bills since January.
"I need another $1 000 for the operation," he said.
When contacted for comment, the doctor said he was not in a position to say anything over the phone.
"We see a lot of patients on a daily basis and anyone with complaints must come in person so that we sit, look at the medical notes and find out their problem. I am in the dark and it will be helpful if those with queries visit the hospital. I will attend to them," he said.
Mguni's bone of contention is that had his wife been given the right prescription in the first place she would not be in the dire state she was today.
"I confronted the doctor over the issue after my wife had been referred to another hospital because her condition was deteriorating. Doctors at the new hospital diagnosed and found out that my wife who had been put on TB treatment was not suffering from that disease after all.
"After this, I went back to the doctor and confronted him over the issue. He apologised and said he thought that my wife had TB. I wanted to wage a war against him then, but my relatives dissuaded me saying I should make sure that my wife recovers first," he said.
Mguni said he smelt a rat after his wife's medical treatment card vanished from her hospital bed.
"This was a cover up because that card had all the information concerning the TB treatment. Hospital staff tried to locate it, but they found nothing and I knew that someone was trying to cover his tracks. Right now my wife is in pain and bed-ridden and what that doctor only did was to say I am sorry.
"That will not help me. At least he must show remorse by visiting his patient but, as it stands, his misdeeds are now my problems. It's not fair," he said.
Mguni said his wife now has swollen feet, backache and she excretes puss daily.
"She is due to undergo an operation which doctors say would stop the puss. She is also undergoing blood transfusion because her blood levels are too low. I had to sell some of my property to meet these costs which could have been avoided in the first place.
"What eats me is that I paid a lot of money to this doctor to treat my wife but he messed up. My money is gone and my wife is in a serious condition. Can't you see I am being hit from all angles," he said.
Manicaland medical director Dr Tawanda Murambi said patients with queries must visit his offices and lodge them.
"I think most of these cases are happening because of poor communication between the doctors and the patients. Medical issues are complicated and there cannot be one answer to a complication. Maybe that patient is right or maybe the doctor is right.
"It is also possible that the second doctor who told the patient that she was on wrong TB medicine failed to properly diagnose the root of the chronic headache. Maybe that patient had TB as diagnosed by the first doctor and this might explain why she is still ill because she might be on wrong treatment after all.
"So this is a complex issue that requires constant communication between the doctors and patients or their relatives. When doctors don't give patients information this leads to speculation," he said.
Vimbai Ndongwe (25) is now battling for life at Mutare Provincial Hospital where she is due to undergo operation for a complicated stomach ailment that is making her excrete bucket loads of puss daily.
Her husband, Mandlankosi Mguni, is bitter saying his wife's condition deteriorated at the beginning of the year after she was wrongly put on tuberculosis treatment for two months by a medical doctor (name withheld) at a mission hospital in Mutare.
He said what started as a simple headache has turned into a litany of ailments because his wife reacted to the wrongly prescribed TB treatment. The situation has also dug deep into his pockets having used more than $4 000 in medical bills since January.
"I need another $1 000 for the operation," he said.
When contacted for comment, the doctor said he was not in a position to say anything over the phone.
"We see a lot of patients on a daily basis and anyone with complaints must come in person so that we sit, look at the medical notes and find out their problem. I am in the dark and it will be helpful if those with queries visit the hospital. I will attend to them," he said.
Mguni's bone of contention is that had his wife been given the right prescription in the first place she would not be in the dire state she was today.
"I confronted the doctor over the issue after my wife had been referred to another hospital because her condition was deteriorating. Doctors at the new hospital diagnosed and found out that my wife who had been put on TB treatment was not suffering from that disease after all.
"After this, I went back to the doctor and confronted him over the issue. He apologised and said he thought that my wife had TB. I wanted to wage a war against him then, but my relatives dissuaded me saying I should make sure that my wife recovers first," he said.
"This was a cover up because that card had all the information concerning the TB treatment. Hospital staff tried to locate it, but they found nothing and I knew that someone was trying to cover his tracks. Right now my wife is in pain and bed-ridden and what that doctor only did was to say I am sorry.
"That will not help me. At least he must show remorse by visiting his patient but, as it stands, his misdeeds are now my problems. It's not fair," he said.
Mguni said his wife now has swollen feet, backache and she excretes puss daily.
"She is due to undergo an operation which doctors say would stop the puss. She is also undergoing blood transfusion because her blood levels are too low. I had to sell some of my property to meet these costs which could have been avoided in the first place.
"What eats me is that I paid a lot of money to this doctor to treat my wife but he messed up. My money is gone and my wife is in a serious condition. Can't you see I am being hit from all angles," he said.
Manicaland medical director Dr Tawanda Murambi said patients with queries must visit his offices and lodge them.
"I think most of these cases are happening because of poor communication between the doctors and the patients. Medical issues are complicated and there cannot be one answer to a complication. Maybe that patient is right or maybe the doctor is right.
"It is also possible that the second doctor who told the patient that she was on wrong TB medicine failed to properly diagnose the root of the chronic headache. Maybe that patient had TB as diagnosed by the first doctor and this might explain why she is still ill because she might be on wrong treatment after all.
"So this is a complex issue that requires constant communication between the doctors and patients or their relatives. When doctors don't give patients information this leads to speculation," he said.
Source - news
