NWRHA denies parents’ request: no $$ for medical experts

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56 minutes ago

The North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) has rejected a request from the parents of babies who died in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Port of Spain General Hospital, to pay for a foreign specialist medical expert to conduct medical to view their children’s files. babies.

Parents have threatened legal action against the state for negligence in the deaths of their babies and have sought legal advice from the Freedom Law Chambers headed by former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, SC.

The denial came in a letter addressed to Sue Ann Deosaran of Freedom Law Chambers on April 30, from Pollonais, Blanc, de la Bastide and Jacelon lawyer Alana Bissessar. This company represents the NWRHA and responded to two preaction protocol letters sent on behalf of baby Roxanne Richards and Ekon Marcelle on April 23 and 24, respectively.

The letter stated that NWRHA believed the request was “completely without merit” as there was no basis for such a request.

“In any case, given that the internal and PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) investigations are still ongoing, there is no need for your client to obtain such a report at this time,” said Bissessar.

In an immediate response, Deosaran sent a legal letter describing the authority’s position as ‘shocking’.

The letter to NWRHA attorneys stated that without the medical specialist analyzing the data, the babies’ parents would not be able to seek justice.

“Our clients come from the lower reaches of the socio-economic ladder and cannot afford to hire a medical expert. They are cleaners, cashiers, security guards and others are unemployed. Their babies died under negligent circumstances that cry out for justice.

“The NWRHA is therefore very aware of the fact that they (the parents) will not be able to pursue their medical negligence claim if they do not receive the required financial support to obtain an expert medical report.

“NWRHA’s strategy is unfortunately clear: refuse to pay for a medical expert, in which case they cannot make a claim for medical negligence,” Deosaran said.

“By taking such a stand, NWRHA is essentially telling the public that only the rich and powerful in this country can sue for medical negligence because they are the only ones who can afford to hire medical experts to independently produce a medical report and prepare an expert report for the court.

“This strategy obviously takes into account the fact that the rich and powerful do not seek medical care in public hospitals, because they seek private medical care in nursing homes or go abroad for medical care.”

Deosaran’s letter reiterated that the normal fee for a medical expert is about $10,000 and that the families have international experts willing to help for half that price ($5,000).

The initial preparation protocol letter asked the NWRHA to agree to pay fees for a specialist to review and analyze the medical notes and prepare a report to advise whether the treatment and standard of care fell below what was reasonable and acceptable.

The search for a foreign medical expert to advise the parents came about after several local doctors refused to help them on the grounds that there would be a conflict of interest as they would have done work for the various RHAs at one time or another.

FAMILIES TO GO PUBLIC

Following the NWRHA’s refusal to pay for the mothers’ foreign medical experts, Deosaran said in her letter that the families have no choice but to come out with an appeal to try to raise money so they can get justice get for their dead babies.

Deosaran said a media conference would be held with the mothers asking for donations to hire a foreign medical expert.

“The mothers are not willing to let the deaths of their babies happen in vain. They want the facts and circumstances surrounding these deaths to be assessed and questioned in court. No amount of compensation can bring their babies back, but they want to ensure that the system and standards of public healthcare are improved and system flaws are corrected.

“They don’t want their own worst enemy to experience the fear, pain and suffering they have endured. They are therefore motivated by a higher sense of justice and purpose, namely ensuring that no more babies die as a result. of medical negligence,” Deosaran said.

However, the lawyer noted that the mothers are not keen on a public appeal as they think it will be humiliating to have to beg for money. According to the report, this amounts to the NWRHA rubbing salt and pepper in their wounds.

The letter on behalf of NWRHA also rejected several allegations made in the parents’ preaction protocol letter, which NWRHA described as “several general unfounded allegations.”

First, the letter defended NWRHA’s internal investigation into the deaths.

“It is standard practice for all regional health authorities to conduct an internal investigation when an adverse event occurs in a public hospital, in accordance with internal policies. In fact, you should be aware that this is standard practice in most organizations. that you continue to make baseless and unsubstantiated allegations of evidence tampering, document purging and witness intimidation, all of which we have discussed in previous correspondence.”

In response, Deosaran said in his letter that the internal investigation may be standard practice, but it challenged the RHA’s lack of communication on its status, timeframe and procedure.

It also says that both families have yet to receive the report as promised.

“Ekon Marcelle died on June 4, 2022. His parents were promised a copy of your internal investigation report. Two years later they are still waiting for it. The investigation may still be ongoing. Roxanne died on December 24, 2023. More than four months have passed. accepted and her family must also receive a copy of the internal investigation report.”

Regarding the issue that PAHO never contacted parents during the investigation to hear their side of the story, Bissessar’s letter stated that this was beyond the NWRHA’s control.

The letter also denied claims that there was a “mad struggle” to clean up the blood group area by removing all old refrigerators that were in a dilapidated state. It said there are no dilapidated refrigerators in the regional health authority’s hematology laboratory and no refrigerators have been replaced or removed from the laboratory in the recent past.

It says repairs were made on April 23 to two of the three refrigerators awaiting repairs.

“All other refrigerators in the laboratory are fully functional, properly maintained and monitored, and sanitized to required and acceptable standards.”

It also denied there was any rush to “reinvent the hematology department”, saying sanitizing laboratory work areas is a standard daily practice.

“This department underwent a rigorous audit process in December 2023 and all identified non-conformities were resolved on March 28, 2024, with the department being recommended for certification by the independent Jamaican National Accreditation Agency.” (
See page 11)