DURBAN - Patients treated by an unregistered doctor at a private hospital in Pietermaritzburg plan to sue the institution.
Four patients who were treated by Cuban national Juan Luis Yings Elutil, known as Dr Omar, contacted the Sunday Tribune this week and said they were horrified.
Elutil was arrested by police two weeks ago and charged with fraud by the Health Professionals Council of SA (HPCSA) for practising while unregistered for 14 years.
He worked at Daymed Private Hospital owned by Dr Navind Dayanand, and was caught after an investigation by medical aid firm Discovery Health.
Geoff Wyngard, a patient, said he would be taking legal action against Daymed because of a horrifying incident under Elutil’s watch. He said he was admitted to the hospital on July 1 for a chest infection, and was treated by Elutil.
Geoff Wyngard wants to sue Daymed Hospital after an unregistered doctor treated him, resulting in him having a severe allergic reaction to medication he was given.
“He prescribed medication and booked me into a ward. An hour after the medication was prescribed, I had an allergic reaction. I was meant to be treated by a Dr Mohamed, who never showed up. I asked to be discharged the following morning. I then went to Mediclinic where I was placed in isolation. I suffered severe throat tightness and developed spots all over my body,” said Wyngard.
He said he was gobsmacked when he heard Elutil was unregistered.
“To think this man treated me sent shivers down my spine I find it hard to believe management did not know.”
He has also reported his incident to Discovery Health and alleged he was billed twice by the hospital. Wyngard said he requested his file from Daymed this week but the hospital allegedly refused to hand it over.
A second patient, Anisha Simney, said she was also treated by Elutil at the hospital and also planned to take legal action. “To know that this can happen at a private hospital really freaks me out. I think all the patients treated by this doctor need to put their heads together and to find a way to take on this hospital. It makes a mockery of health care in the country.”
Simney said she would lay a formal complaint with her medical aid company.
Dayanand last week denied knowing Elutil was unregistered.
Juan Elutil worked as a doctor for 14 years without being registered.
Last week, the Mountain Rise police station sent a statement on a SAPS letterhead to the Sunday Tribune stating that the case against Elutil had provisionally been withdrawn in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court.
However, the National Prosecuting Authority said this week that it was not true and that the SAPS was not authorised to make such a statement on its behalf.
Director of Public Prosecutions in KZN, advocate Moipone Noko, said: “The case was not withdrawn. Rather, it was not enrolled as investigations must still be conducted. The SAPS has been handed the case docket back to investigate, and were requested to give it urgent attention as the suspect’s passport expires in November 2017.”
Both Dayanand and his attorney did not respond to questions sent to them this week.
POLICE TRY TO STOP STORY BEING PUBLISHED
Two Pietermaritzburg police officers have made contact with the reporter in an attempt to stop her from writing stories involving Daymed Private Hospital.
A policeman close to the investigation phoned the reporter last week to ask that she hold back the story as publishing it could jeopardise his investigations.
The reporter told him that the story was based on facts and is backed by evidence and the report was based on an investigation by the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
Then on Friday night, at about 10.45pm, a high-ranking Pietermaritzburg policewoman called the reporter to inform her that the Dayanand family were victims of a personal feud. She claimed to have no links with the family but said she was making a courtesy call to explain the unrelated politics linked to them.
The reporter said she was baffled by the call because the story was about the unregistered doctor and not the Dayanand family.