Woman blames hospital for effects of abortion that was never done

A Nakuru hospital is in the spotlight again, after a patient claimed she was misdiagnosed and put on wrong treatment. The woman claims the alleged misdiagnosis left her with blurred vision and other complications.

Investigation by The Standard on Sunday unearthed a series of conflicting medical reports, cover up schemes, unaccounted cash payments and a mystery of missing treatment records for Ruth Wangui of Ndondori, Nyandarua County.

Wangui, 29, says she first sought treatment at Nakuru Maternity and Nursing Home facility last December 18, after she suffered severe headache and general body pain. She was admitted and discharged two days later, on December 20.

A discharge summary we obtained indicates she was diagnosed with Intramural Fibroids, a condition that affects women’s genitalia. But the doctors could not show her scans allegedly conducted on her, and which would have shown that she had fibroids.

A week after leaving the hospital, Wangui developed abnormal bleeding in her genitalia. She returned to the same facility, and was immediately taken to theatre. According to the discharge documents, Wangui left the hospital on January 15, having undergone complete abortion at the theatre.

But before she was discharged, the doctors reportedly asked her to either undergo a final surgery to remove fibroids in her uterus or take a 28-day injection, which would ultimately shrink the fibroids. She chose the latter.

After completing the 28-day treatment, Wangui says she developed fresh vision problems and often experienced convulsions that caused her to faint several times. On March 31, she went for check up and the doctors diagnosed her with anaemia and typhoid. However, pronounced health complications forced her relatives to seek alternative treatment at another facility; Gibea Medical Centre.

Medical history

A medical scan ordered by Dr Gideon Arunga, a General Practitioner in Nakuru, to ascertain the medical history as indicated by the Nakuru Nursing Home, did not show that Wangui had suffered fibroids or had an abortion earlier.

“Features of normal pelvic ultra sound scan, but query on the Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding (DUB),” concluded the report released on April 4. Dr Arunga questioned why the previous hospital did not produce a scan for the fibroids (if they indeed existed) as they purportedly treated her of, or why they discharged her without undergoing the procedural counselling mandatory for mothers who miscarry, even after it indicated that she was released through antenatal care (ANC) profiling on the summaries.

Dr Arunga says Wangui was put on a seven-day medication to reverse the effects of headache and blurred vision, and she responded well. Further investigations have also indicated that Wangui did not sign any agreement with the hospital before being taken to the theatre, contrary to universal medical practices.

Every time she was discharged, she was told to sign her National Hospital Insurance Fund authorisation forms. At the height of our investigations, Victor Onsare, a practitioner at the hospital, refunded Wangui Sh1,000 via mobile money transfer on April 9, the money she had allegedly paid earlier.

In a recorded conversation exclusively obtained by The Standard on Sunday, Onsare pleaded with Wangui to help cover up the case if the matter ever came up.

From the conversation, Onsare could be heard revealing that the hospital was battling serious financial problems that included medics collecting money from patients in cash, regardless of strict rules that instructs patients to make payments only through the cashier.

Onsare, in the conversation, explains to Wangui that the decision to return the Sh1,000 was arrived at after discussions with Mirriam Wairimu, the owner of the facility. But the hospital could not produce medical records showing her treatment and admission from the first day.

Wairimu at the same time defended the facility, saying, “We want to know why she wants to take drastic measures against us yet we treated her according to her ailment.”

She, however, could not explain why the patient did not sign an agreement before going to the theatre. She also accused a doctor she said had been fired over ‘poor performance’ and consistent failure to receipt cash payments.

But even as the matron denied ever admitting Wangui, NHIF database in our possession showed the hospital had been claiming Wangui’s remittance since December 18 last year. The hospital’s NHIF code is 0019180.

Wangui said she also subordinated the NHIF charges with another Sh69,920 in cash, which catered for the theatre, consultation, ultra sound, injection and drugs.

Kimani Mureithi, a director at the hospital, denied the allegations, saying, “The patient was not injected for the 28 days she claims, and if it is true, then she could have fallen victim to con doctors at our facility”.

Last year, The Standard broke the story of Racheal Aluvisia, whose two-year-old daughter Salma Waithera’s was amputated few months after her birth. The baby developed fever a week after birth and they sought medical attention from the hospital.

A doctor at the facility, according to the parents examined and diagnosed the child with a severe infection, where he was put on oxygen and drip.

Immediately, the body of the child began swelling amid high body temperatures, her legs turned bluish that sent more worries to the young couple. On the second day of admission, consultant pediatrician ordered removal of the drip saying it was for adults, that she had developed sepsis and that they were treating high body temperatures. “The doctor told me that my daughter was suffering from sepsis and that if I wanted more details about the cause of the condition, I should Google from the internet,” Aluvisia said.