Medical negligence case: Central Aflao Hospital fined for late amendment to defence
The Ho High Court, presided over by Justice Rosemarie Afua Asante, has ordered the Central Aflao Hospital to pay GH¢5,000 in costs for seeking to amend its statement of defence late in an ongoing medical negligence case brought by the family of a deceased caterer.
The suit was filed by the family of Linda Adua, 39, who died after allegedly being denied treatment at the hospital.
The ruling followed an application by the hospital’s lawyers seeking to amend their defence statement during the trial.
Counsel for the plaintiff, Christian Lebrecht Malm-Hesse, had objected to the application, arguing that the case had already suffered several adjournments and that the timing of the request was unfair.
He contended that allowing the amendment at that stage could potentially alter the direction of the case.
Mr Malm-Hesse also told the court that granting leave for such an amendment was at the discretion of the court and not a matter of right.
Counsel for the plaintiff further maintained that pleadings had already closed and that procedural rules were intended to prevent unnecessary delays in court proceedings.
However, counsel for the defence, T. K. Dzimega, argued that amending the pleadings and counterclaims would help prevent a multiplicity of suits in the matter.
He maintained that the proposed amendments would not negatively affect the course of the case.
In granting the application, the court gave the defence two weeks to file the amendments but ordered the hospital to pay GH¢5,000 in costs.
The family of the deceased is seeking GH¢4 million in general damages, compensation for loss of life, upkeep of her surviving son and funeral expenses.
The legal action follows a preliminary investigative report by the Volta Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service which identified “institutional lapses, including unclear directives, lack of guidelines, weak monitoring, and over-reliance on locum staff, especially doctors and nurses” that contributed to Ms Adua’s death.
The report was based on a petition submitted by the family to the President, the Minister of Health, the Ghana Health Service and the Medical and Dental Council, seeking justice over the incident.
According to the family, staff of the Central Aflao Hospital in the Ketu South Municipality allegedly refused to provide treatment to Ms Adua on April 11, 2023, unless cash was paid upfront.
The family alleged that despite the pleas of the woman, who was in severe pain, and her 19-year-old son, the nurses declined to accept mobile money payment for her treatment.
They claim the patient was left unattended until she died.
Following the petition, the Medical and Dental Council and the Ghana Health Service dispatched investigators to the hospital to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The police also invited two nurses cited in the case for questioning.
Earlier, an elder sister of the deceased, Abigail Adua, told the Daily Graphic before the suit was filed that at a point when Linda appeared to have died, the hospital asked her son to take her to a government hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
