DURBAN - The family of a Durban man who died days after maggots were found in his mouth intends to sue the government and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health.
In a letter addressed to the newly appointed chief executive of RK Khan Hospital, Nqobile Mkhwanazi, which The Mercury has seen, the
family of Abdool Sadik Ebrahim said they were demanding R7million for emotional trauma, anxiety and distress.
Ebrahim died a few days after he was admitted to RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth.
A video of Ebrahim showing the 52-year-old’s mouth filled with maggots went viral on social media,.
He had been admitted to hospital, for gangrene, on June 19.
On June 23, when Ebrahim’s son, Azaad, went to visit his father, he noticed that his upper lip was swollen.
This was when Azaad discovered that his father’s mouth was infested with live maggots.
The family believes that staff at the hospital did not provide adequate
care for their father, who had suffered a severe stroke and was unable to alert anyone to any pain that he may have been feeling.
“It is alleged that the deceased was treated in an inhumane and/or disrespectful manner, with his treatment (if any) being of an unacceptable standard,” the letter states.
They further claimed that the “presence of maggots in any living persons’ mouth, who has already been admitted and is receiving treatment at a hospital, is shameful and despicable”, the letter states.
The family further alleged that Ebrahim had an odour on his body when he was admitted and had been isolated by the hospital staff, and kept away from other patients.
The letter detailed the Ebrahim family’s allegations and their request for general damages for Ebrahim’s wife in the sum of R2m and general damages of R5m for his son Azaad Ebrahim.
The letter states that should payment not be effected within 30 days, the law firm would proceed with summons.
Acting on the family’s behalf, attorney Theasen Pillay confirmed that a lawyer’s letter had been issued on behalf of the family to Mkhwanazi.
Calling the ordeal, a “travesty”, Pillay said: “The family is traumatised by their last memories of their beloved father and husband.”
RK Khan Hospital board chairperson Reverend Cyril Pillay said he was not aware of the letter, adding that it was the family’s right to choose whether to pursue legal action.
Following the incident, the hospital’s chief executive Dr Prakash Subban was redeployed to St Aidan's Hospital, while Mkhwanazi, former boss of Queen Nandi Memorial Hospital, in Empangeni, was deployed to RK Khan. Pillay said Mkhwanazi has been at the hospital for the past two weeks. The health department did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.