Medical Council launches probe into amputee’s death

Aug 18, 2012 News

– family vows legal action

The Guyana Medical Council has launched an investigation into the death of Devanand Nauth, the 48-year-old carpenter who was allegedly discharged from the West Demerara Regional Hospital with spinal injuries and an infected leg that was later amputated.
A senior Medical Council official told Kaieteur News that the Council discussed the matter after receiving a report about the case. The Council will now ask the medical staff who are being investigated to respond to the allegations.

Dead: Devanand Nauth

Meanwhile, the dead man’s sister, Sita Ramsahoye, said that the family is seeking the services of an attorney with the intention of taking legal action against the Ministry of Health.
Devanand Nauth, of Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Thursday after sustaining injuries in an accident two Saturdays ago.
His sister told Kaieteur News that a post mortem performed yesterday revealed that he succumbed from respiratory failure due to a fractured spine.
However, a GPHC official said that while Nauth had sustained spinal injuries, his spine was not fractured.
According to reports, Nauth was cycling out of Kidram Street, Vreed-en-Hoop at around 18:30 hrs last week Saturday when he was struck by a car. The victim allegedly told his relatives that he was struck from behind.
The driver reportedly took Nauth to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he was admitted with injuries to his back and legs.
But Ms. Ramsahoye said that while her brother indicated that he was experiencing numbness in his body, a nurse claimed that this was because the patient had consumed alcohol.
According to the woman, the West Demerara staff informed the family that they were keeping him overnight for observation. She said that the following day, a nurse contacted the family by phone and requested that they come for her brother since he had been discharged.
Family members refused to take Nauth from the hospital as they felt that his injuries were too severe for him to be discharged so soon. However, one of Nauth’s brothers eventually complied with the hospital’s request.
The sister said that Nauth was unable to walk, so the brother had to “lift him like a baby” out of the institution.
On Monday, family members took the injured man back to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he had an X-ray. She said that a doctor declared that Nauth was “okay” and instructed that he visit the hospital daily for injections. She alleged that the staff did not examine her brother’s injured leg.
Ms. Ramsahoye said that Nauth returned to the hospital on Tuesday and the staff placed fresh bandages on his leg and sent him home. However, the following day, the injured leg began to smell, and it was then that a senior hospital official examined the patient and ordered that he be transferred to the GPHC.
The leg was then amputated.
Relatives also said that another X-ray examination revealed that Nauth had suffered spinal injuries and he was paralyzed. He was admitted to the High Dependency Unit before being transferred to the Male Accident Ward, where he succumbed at around 05:00 hrs on Thursday.
Nauth is to be cremated tomorrow.