Court rules in amputee's favour
The Nonthaburi Provincial Court yesterday ruled in favour of a girl seeking financial compensation for the loss of her left leg allegedly as a result of medical malpractice by a state hospital.
The court ordered the Public Health Ministry to pay 16-year-old Darisa Sroykhum, from Nakhon Phanom, about Bt3 million plus interest dating back to June 2004, when the complaint was lodged.The court ruled that the Nakhon Phanom Provincial Hospital's negligence had resulted in the amputation of the girl's left leg. Pol Sgt-Major Charoen Sroykhum, the girl's father, said Darisa was treated at Nakhon Phanom hospital on January 16, 2004, following an accident in which she scraped her left knee on the ground. The doctors put a splint on her leg and bandaged it up. The dressing was so tight that eventually the wound started to rot and the girl could not feel it, said Charoen. The girl was later transferred to a hospital in Khon Kaen, where doctors had to amputate her leg to save her life. The family decided to sue the ministry, with which the hospital is affiliated, for Bt5.7 million, he said. Judge Wajanart Wangtal read the court's ruling, saying the ministry was responsible for Nakhon Phanom Hospital's mistake and was required to pay Bt3 million plus interest at an annual rate of 7.5 per cent from the date when the complaint was filed to yesterday. Suphachai Sinprasert The Nation Nonthaburi
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