The family of pensioner Elfreida Benjamin, who died after she was hospitalized following the use of expired medication reportedly given to her by a public healthcare facility, has decided to seek legal advice on how to proceed with the matter.
“I don’t believe that I will get any justice or see any proper action taken in this matter of my wife’s death which I believe was caused by negligence on the part of the hospital if I do not take matters into my own hands,” widower George Benjamin told Stabroek News on Sunday.
Last month, Elfreida, 74, had visited the Leonora Cottage Hospital (LCH) several times for treatment. On her last visit to the hospital at the end of March Elfreida was given tablets and used them the same day. George had alleged that hours after the woman consumed the tablets her health started to rapidly deteriorate.
The following morning Elfreida was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where she was admitted.
It was at the GPH, George had alleged, that he was first made aware that some of his wife’s medication was expired. The man had alleged that the doctor he spoke with informed him that the tablets were expired and subsequently disposed of them.
Two Thursdays ago, two weeks after her admission to the GPH, Elfreida died. George later produced expired Captopril and Emnorm, which he said had been given to his wife by the LCH.
However, these allegations have since been denied by the Ministry of Health (MoH) through its Regional Health Services Department.
The RHDS in a recent statement said that it was impossible for the expired drugs to have been issued by the LCH and added that the batch numbers of the expired tablets had been checked and it was discovered that they were never purchased by the MoH.
The MoH, a source within the public healthcare system had subsequently told this newspaper, should be able to state the company or practitioner the expired drugs were bought from since it monitors the flow of all medicine into the country.
“They have the batch number of this medication so they can trace where it came from and to whom it went,” the source insisted.
Meanwhile, since the RHSD statement was issued last Tuesday, this newspaper has made repeated efforts to determine whether there is a body within the MoH or an external independent group which can launch an investigation into the allegations being made by George Benjamin and his family. Several efforts made to reach the head of the RHSD Dr Narine Singh for a comment have been futile.
Head of the Guyana Medical Council Dr Sheik Amir told Stabroek News recently that there is nothing the council can do in the Elfreida Benjamin case. Amir explained that the alleged issuing of expired medication was not an act executed by a medical practitioner. The council deals with complaints of negligence on the part of medical practitioners.
He recommended that this newspaper contact the Guyana Pharmacy Council. However, repeated efforts made to contact the head of that council have been futile.
George told this newspaper on Sunday that he is exploring his options and will report the incident to any group responsible for or which has an interest in such matters. The man also said that after much thought he has decided to consult a lawyer and will not let his wife’s death “go unanswered for”.
Elfreida, the man told Stabroek News, was laid to rest last Wednesday. A post-mortem examination, according to George, showed that she died from pneumonia in conjunction with another condition. “I have to get the copy of the post-mortem report and then I will be able to tell you exactly what it said,” the man explained.
Relatives had told this newspaper that one of a team of doctors at the GPH, who had been treating Elfreida, had told them that her condition was possibly caused by an allergic reaction to the medication given to her. However, though they made repeated efforts to speak with that doctor again relatives have been unable to do so.
“I am not concerned with all the denials from the Ministry of Health,” George said. “I have made a serious complaint against their hospital and I think the least they could do is listen to me properly and investigate properly what I said.”
