Kumasi Family to sue Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for allegedly ‘k!lling’ their pregnant niece
The Kumasi family has threatened to sue KATH for allegedly “killing” their pregnant niece.
Following KATH’s delay in meeting the demands of the Opoku-Mensah family, the circumstances leading to the death of Elizabeth Kwatemaa Ling, who died when she reported to the Special Ward of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) to give birth, could take on a legal dimension.
This was revealed to The Chronicle during a weekend interview with Dr. Patrick Osei-Kuffour, the head of the Opoku-Mensah family in Kropo, a Kumasi suburb. He bemoaned KATH’s stance in handling a petition that the family members had sent to them on November 7, 2021, and indicated that the family members were consulting with their lawyers about the next course of action.
The Opoku-Mensah family has accused KATH of negligence in the death of their relative, the late Elizabeth Kwartemaa Laing, who came to KATH to give birth.
The Opoku-Mensah family is accusing KATH of poor practices, among other things, that resulted in the death of their relative on October 10, 2021, at KATH’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) Special Ward.
According to the family, there was some kind of omission or negligence that resulted in the death of their loved one. As a result, they have been requesting an autopsy report since November 9, 2021, a request that KATH has yet to meet.
In their first petition to KATH, the family indicated to KATH that the circumstances leading to the death had caused the family pain, suffering, and emotional distress, for which they sought an explanation from the health facility.
Osei-Kuffour stated, “We wish to inform the management of KATH that this is a God-fearing, law-abiding, and peaceful family that is seeking answers in order to find some form of closure and healing to deal with our grief and painful loss of our beloved daughter, wife, sister, and niece, Elizabeth Kwartemaa Laing, whose life was cut short by medical negligence.”
He also accused KATH management of withholding information about the death from the family.
This development, he said, is clearly exemplified by the opacity of both the initial meeting with hospital authorities and the internal audit process investigating Elizabeth Kwatemaa Laing’s death.
When they indicated that the family has begun preparations to bury their beloved relative, whose death has been the subject of contention on November 20, 2021, but the response from KATH failed to take that into consideration, the family accused KATH of buying time and not taking the family’s decision into consideration.
Mr. Kwame Frimpong, KATH’s public relations officer, previously said the committee tasked with investigating the death had completed its work and that they were currently working on the final report that they would issue.
Mr. Frimpong urged the Opoku-Mensah family to be patient because the report would be ready soon.
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