Let the wonders continue, U,

chelseabmw:

Very soon i will also sue nairaland.seun take note.This time it will be $1 billion dollars

This is a very healthy development.

The chances are that if the family gets a good solicitor, they will most certainly get compensated. The solicitor would be requesting a specialist medical opinion that the perinatal injuries sustained by the child has lead to the organic brain damage described. They will also be querying whether the person who carried out the procedure actually had the relevant level of training. It doesn't matter whether such injuries are known complications of the procedure in question or not.

Our society needs more of such litigations and questions asked of its health providers and doctors. Because once this culture is internalised; once people begin to demand of their service-providers, evidence-based treatments by qualified practitioners, then these service-providers will begin to sit up to provide the services they are in a contractual agreement to provide. They would also be more persuaded to ensure that proper mechanisms are put in place in their practices to ensure that all their employees comply with best practices in the health sector. And be ready to pay the penalties when they fail to do so. That's how things work in sane societies.

Why this culture is healthy is because doctors will then learn not to be experimenting with clinical situations that they are not equipped to handle and be motivated (or encouraged by whichever body/organisation that indemnifies their practices) to ensure that whoever carries out any procedures within their practice is skilled in such procedures. This will also encourage those that want to open up clinics (or carry out any clinical procedures) to have the relevant evidence-based skills and training that they need to be able to remain competitive and relevant. With this culture a lot of the quacks in our society that give good doctors a bad name will be forced to close shop.

Those that say that this family has been motivated by greed, or are insinuating some sort of mercenary subculture, have an attitude that is part of that problem that has put our health system in the mess it's in.

samnaija:

prof pls tell us what cerebral palsy is you 2 sabi. that cut could be responsible. cerebral palsy (cp) can be brought about by diff things infections or direct damage to the brain thereby slowing development of the brain in the child. non the less if cp did not evolve a new born baby having a cut on his head sounds decent 2 u abi, maybe na your new style for traditional marks.

No mind the guy, na over sabi dey worry am. He think say na during child delivery them dey give traditional marks. LWKMD

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE NAIRALAND.

OKkkk. . . . .i laffed hard when i saw the topic and im still laffing.

However, i hope the parents win the case and able to give the child the best they can because lets face it. . .the probability of that child achieving alot in life with cerebral palsy and epilepsy is very slim.
If doctors arent satisfied with their profession in anyway they should pls quit. The doctor's action may nt be the cause of the baby's problem but how can they prove it didnt contribute to it?

eros:

May God save us from the quack Doctors and Nurses parading themselves in Nigeria.

I don't live in NG, but a big AMEN to that.

How negligent of "professionals". Hope they get their money!!

IF you were in the shoes of the parents of the 2-year old lil boy, would you have done otherwise?

Come let me understand some thing here, was the baby the one that draged this incompetent hospital to court, was he the one that demanded for the N5m or the parent just want to use this opprotunity to make money.

poster how far with the remaining story, did the court ordered the hospital to pay the 2yrs old N5m hungry babe or the court is still in court? up date us please.

Aloy, you are such a dog for your comments; unless the people involved are celebs, you seem to lack all forms of compassion. I won't even address you Igbo comment.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the child; most lawsuits dealing with delivery room malpractice are filed on behalf of the victim, which is usually THE CHILD. Little Samuel probably doesn't even know what's going on and I truly pray for him and babies that are hurt like this. The little boy will need thousands upon thousands of dollars to live a relatively normal life considering his condition; the medication, therapy, medical care and bills need to be paid and they should get that money from the government and/or doctors involved. After the doctors have been financially drained, they should have their licenses revoked.

y do u think the parents r money hungry? the child has been rendered useless by a yeye doctor! how else will d parents care for him without the money? and how else do u frighten naija doctors into doing the right job without this issue?

beneli:

This is a very healthy development.

The chances are that if the family gets a good solicitor, they will most certainly get compensated. The solicitor would be requesting a specialist medical opinion that the perinatal injuries sustained by the child has lead to the organic brain damage described. They will also be querying whether the person who carried out the procedure actually had the relevant level of training. It doesn't matter whether such injuries are known complications of the procedure in question or not.

Our society needs more of such litigations and questions asked of its health providers and doctors. Because once this culture is internalised; once people begin to demand of their service-providers, evidence-based treatments by qualified practitioners, then these service-providers will begin to sit up to provide the services they are in a contractual agreement to provide. They would also be more persuaded to ensure that proper mechanisms are put in place in their practices to ensure that all their employees comply with best practices in the health sector. And be ready to pay the penalties when they fail to do so. That's how things work in sane societies.

Why this culture is healthy is because doctors will then learn not to be experimenting with clinical situations that they are not equipped to handle and be motivated (or encouraged by whichever body/organisation that indemnifies their practices) to ensure that whoever carries out any procedures within their practice is skilled in such procedures. This will also encourage those that want to open up clinics (or carry out any clinical procedures) to have the relevant evidence-based skills and training that they need to be able to remain competitive and relevant. With this culture a lot of the quacks in our society that give good doctors a bad name will be forced to close shop.

Those that say that this family has been motivated by greed, or are insinuating some sort of mercenary subculture, have an attitude that is part of that problem that has put our health system in the mess it's in.

True. . .healthy development, but unfortunately, i don't think this will bring any progress to healthcare delivery in Nigeria.

This case will be like flogging a dead horse. No matter how many lashes, it is not going anywhere.

The government can't provide enough equipped hospitals, provide incentives that would keep health care workers in the country, make healthcare affordable for the average Nigerian. . . etc

If these are not done, it is only a matter of time before we hear of another case like this.

ziga:

True. . .healthy development, but unfortunately, i don't think this will bring any progress to healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
This case will be like flogging a dead horse. No matter how many lashes, it is not going anywhere.

The government can't provide enough equipped hospitals, provide incentives that would keep health care workers in the country, make healthcare affordable for the average Nigerian. . . etc

If these are not done, it is only a matter of time before we hear of another case like this.

Your argument is very valid but i don't quite agree with the bolded part.

There is no denying the fact that there's not enough money being put into the health sector to enable the proper infrastructures (equipments, training etc) to be put in place, but given that a lot of the health providers are from the private sector, if there is an escalation of taking negligent doctors and other health providers to court, then they will be compelled to improve on the standard of care that they provide. Of course a consequence of the compensation culture creeping into Nigeria will be that the cost of health care will shoot up, but that is a price that will have to be paid for quality.

If it will take suing Doctors and other health providers(nurses, pharmacists, traditional healers etc) to jump start a revolution in our health sector, so be it. The status quo needs to be changed.If the change doesn't come from top to bottom, then let it come from bottom up!

@beneli

I was focusing on the public health sector, but also, i see your point. There's always a price to pay for progress.

And hopefully, if this can bring development in the private health sector, sometime soon, the government run health institutions will also fall in line.

wowwwwwwwwwwww a two yrs old sueing that sounds hilarious

Is it the 2 year old baby that sued or the parents sued on his/her behalf. I mean, legally speaking, can a child sue?

jamace:

Is it the 2 year old baby that sued or the parents sued on his/her behalf. I mean, legally speaking, can a child sue? 

Yes, a 1 day old child has equal rights like any other person and can sue.

Aloy+Emeka:

Yes, a 1 day old child has equal rights like any other person and can sue.

Really? What he was asking was "legally, can a child sue"? He was not asking if he had equal right under the law. Just because you have equal rights under the law doesn't mean that the same law doesn't have set of strict guidelines governing it. Answer is NO, a child cannot "legally" bring a lawsuit at least in a federal court system under federal jurisdictions, and I doubt if that's the case of state courts and jurisdictions. However, the child can appoint a trustee (approved by a judge) to represent him/her and bring the lawsuit on his/her behalf. In this case, the child is 2, barely knows anyone, not even of age to appoint someone other than his parents. Same rule applies; a lawsuit or criminal indictment cannot be brought against a child or even a really young adult, but rather the "legal" guardian of the child. Although certain exemptions apply

Although the topic is a quite misleading, but my heart goes out to the family of the boy. I've seen few kids with Cerebral Palsy, and my heart breaks each time I see their condition, makes me appreciate the good health God gave me.

you guys are quite educated retarded ni sha, how much are those doctors getting paid or how much training have they received in that shithole they call the health sector? Y'all should note that maybe, just mabybe NEPA withdrew power supply to that area during the operation or something similar, una noe as tins dey for here, I feel that the only way things can get better for Nigeria as a whole is for another massive brain drain to happen to the health sector, P.S: DOCTORS ARE WANTED IN BAHRAIN SWEDEN, NURSES IN CANADA,SOUTH AFRICA,sweden, MAKE UNA RUSH NOW!!!

Am shocked that Nigerians think its funny and money grasping for the traumatized parents to sue for the careless actions of the hospital staff. This story had pictures of the scar on the poor baby. The scar alone is enough reason for the sue if am asked. To think that the writer finds the issue funny is appalling to say the least. Have we become so dead in our brains to know when we have been wronged and to seek redress?

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