Man rejects GH¢10,000 compensation from Attorney-General for his wife & baby's death, wants GH¢5million instead...

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has put on the table GH¢10,000 as compensation in the case of alleged medical negligence involving the Madina Polyclinic, three other state institutions and a 42-year-old widower, Mr Bernard Otu (in the above photo from right with his kids, inset: Attorney General Gloria Akuffo).

However, the move for an out-of-court settlement which was at the instance of the defendants - the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the Ministry of Health (MoH), Attorney-General’s Department (AG) and the Madina Kekele Polyclinic – has been crashed following the plaintiff’s rejection of what he described as a measly offer.

Mr Otu, in a legal action initiated in February 2016 at the Accra Human Rights Court Division 1, is demanding a GH¢5 million compensation for the death of his 38-year-old expectant wife and unborn baby girl which occurred at the polyclinic on Thursday, June 18, 2015.

The botched settlement plan

Reliable information picked up by The Mirror indicated that the defendants reached out to the plaintiff on the sidelines of the case for an out-of-court settlement after the latter had filed an application for Directions on Wednesday, November 16, 2016 .

The Mirror found out that though the defendants’ request was not officially channelled through the court, the plaintiff obliged, given the persistence by the former.

A meeting was subsequently convened on May 4, 2016 at the Legal Department of the GHS during which an offer of GH¢10,000 was made to the plaintiff which he rejected outright.

Having followed the case closely, the defendants have consistently failed to appear in court, and would not comply with Order 21 of the C.I. 47 (Discovery and Inspection of Documents) as directed by the court, presided over by Justice Gifty Agyei Addo.

They were also not in court when the case was called in the last two instances on June 16 and July 11, 2017 and have since not filed any document on which they wish to rely for the case even though the plaintiff had filed his as far back as February 24, 2017 and after nearly one-and-half years since the litigation set sail.

The case will be called on Tuesday, October 17, 2017.

Background

Cynthia Nuworsu, a trader and mother-of-four died with her unborn baby on Thursday, June 18, 2015 at the Madina Kekele Polyclinic where she had reported the day before to be delivered of her fifth child.

According to an autopsy report from the Police Hospital, she died of “raptured uterus” (a tear of the uterus) and “breech presentation,” explained by experts as childbirth in which the baby exits the pelvis with the buttocks, feet or any other part of the body as opposed to the normal head-first presentation.

Her husband, Mr Otu, a driver by profession, who is presently in a legal tussle with the medical facility, described the circumstance surrounding Madam Nuworsu’s demise as “medical malpractice” and a “preventable death” which breached the duty of care between the facility and the deceased.

He consequently filed a GH¢5 million lawsuit against the facility and three others– the GHS, MoH, and A-G — praying the court to declare that the duty of care owed the deceased was breached, leading to the painful death of mother and child.

Additionally, he is praying the court to order a compensation to the tune of GH¢5 million in his favour.

Counsel for the defendants declined commenting on the issue when The Mirror contacted her on Monday, July 24, 2017.

Source: Graphic Online