St Augustine's faces law suit over alleged medical negligence
A Durban family is suing two local doctors as well as Netcare St. Augustine's Hospital for damages amounting to R8-million for alleged medical negligence after their daughter died at the facility.
Nineteen-year-old Jadene Naidoo was admitted to the Durban hospital on September 9 after she was hurt in a car accident on Rick Turner Road.
According to court documents, Jadene's injuries were not life threatening at the time of her admission to hospital.
In an interview with Newswatch, her father Trevor Naidoo said Jadene underwent minor facial surgery the day after the crash but then afterwards complained of excruciating abdominal pain despite the pain medication she was being given.
Fighting back tears, Naidoo said requests by his family for doctors to investigate what was causing his daughter pain were ignored.
"She complained to me saying she is in severe pain and the doctor is really pushing her to start eating. The nursing staff had forced her with meals. She couldn't just take it.
"I decided to have the doctors changed and because I complained, I believe they took it out on Jade and they told her to stop whining and start walking," he said.
Naidoo says it was only established five days later that Jadene should never have received solid foods because she had a ruptured small bowel, causing high toxin levels in her body.
The medical student died in the hospital 11 days later and her distraught father says the ordeal has been too much for them.
"We are on medication at the moment. We basically don't even know the days - we don't know where time goes. We also have a little kid to also see to.
"We put on a brave front for her. We can't even concentrate - we just look at each other and don't know what to say to each other," he said.
Management at St. Augustine's say they regret Jadene's death and have declined to comment at this stage.
(Above: Jadene and her dad, Trevor. Photos: Supplied)
