Kibagabaga Hospital has lost a case in which a man sued the hospital over medical negligence that cost the life of his wife in cesarean procedure.

In 2017, the deceased was admitted at Kibagabaga hospital to give birth but was injected with a lethal medicine by Elise Mukarukundo that caused brain damage to the patient ending her into a coma that lasted one and a half year.

Juvenal Habyarimana, the widower of the deceased lodged a case in August 2017, in the Primary court of Kibagabaga, but lost.

He appealed the verdict and the case was heard on July this year by Gasabo Intermediate court in Kigali. An investigation by Rwanda Medical and Dental Council showed that the patient’s brain was damaged to the irrecoverable level due to the lack of supply of oxygen to her brain during the C- section operation.

The prosecution during the hearing said that from the time the deceased got injected with the medicine she never gained consciousness.

Liability

Prosecution argued that the doctor is liable for medical negligence.

The doctor was fined Rwf 500,000 alongside his employer — the district Rwf20 million.

During the primary court sessions, Ms Mukarukundo Elise pleaded not guilty, stating that the patient’s death was not a result of her negligence.

Rushikama Niyo Justin, a lawyer of the defendant, Gasabo district, pleaded that there was no intention to commit the crime.

However, the appeal court — Gasabo Intermediate court — said a crime was committed despite the lack of intention and therefore those culpable must be punished.

To illustrate this, the appellate court said that a reckless driver is punished not the fact that he has intentionally knocked someone to death but because of just lack of diligence in his driving.