Court awards BD22,000 compensation towards death of newborn twins

TDT | Manama                          

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

The High Civil Court has ordered BD22,000 compensation to the parents of twin babies, Fatima and Zahra, who, according to the Court, had died of complications arising from medical error.

The Court also ruled that compensation had to be paid jointly by the Ministry of Health and the two doctors indicted in the case. The verdict came in a case where two newborn babies died of medical negligence on the 16th of October 2021 at Salmaniya Medical Complex.

Case files say the doctors had informed the parents that the babies, who were born prematurely, died soon after birth. However, the babies showed signs of life and cried midway through their funeral rites, giving the parents a shock of their life.

Panicked, they rushed to SMC, carrying the babies and getting them into intensive care. However, the efforts went in vain, as the babies succumbed nine days after, on the 25th of October 2021 plunging them into deep despair.

The babies were given their last rites at Bilad Al Khadim. The father has said that on that fateful day, the doctors had handed over the twins in a “bag”. Things, however, took a shocking turn when the officials announced an investigation.

The Daily Tribune had reported the heart-wrenching story of the father who had to go through the ordeal of losing his just-born babies twice in a matter of hours. At that time, the National Health Regulatory Authority CEO had said they are investigating the allegation of medical error at SMC.

Investigators said they found negligence of the hospital staff, including doctors, as responsible for the tragic loss of lives. NHRA had said they would investigate all medical professionals involved in the case.

The Chief of Medical Services at SMC wrote in a report: “The patient came to SMC on the 15th of October 2020 at 8 pm, and she was in a state of abortion at 22 weeks of pregnancy, and the result was two newborns. After examination by the medical staff, it was found, at the time, that there were no signs that they were alive and handed over to the father on the 16th of October 202 at 9:30 am.”

The report adds: “On the same day, the father brought the newborns back to SMC, and after examining them by the medical staff, doctors found that one of them was dead and the other was making a crying sound. The newborn was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit for premature infants, but she passed away.”

Investigators told the Court the doctors failed to give the babies proper care at the right time. “Doctors declared the deaths without examining the babies,” the report said. Police also blamed three doctors and a nurse for the deaths.

However, a trial court acquitted some of them for lacking evidence. The Court charged two doctors, a Bahraini and an Indian national, for medical negligence and awarded them 12 months in jail. The verdict also paved the way for another court battle, with parents filing another case demanding compensation for the trauma they suffered.

They demanded compensation of BD30,000. A Civil Court viewed that the doctors were responsible for the stressful situation. “Hence the parents are eligible for compensation.” The Court, however, ordered a reduced compensation of BD22,000. The Court also viewed that the Ministry of Health is responsible for the incident reported from their hospital. Hence, the Court ordered the ministry and doctors to jointly pay the payment.