The Kigali-based La Croix du Sud Hospital, owned by one of Rwanda’s top gynaecologists, Dr Jean Chrysostome Nyirinkwaya, is on the spot yet again after patients took it to court.

This follows several complaints raised by caretakers, who claim the patients’ condition grew worse after undergoing minor surgery, including circumcision, at the hospital.

The aggrieved victims who complained of numbness and increased palpitations have filed a case at the Nyarugenge intermediate court demanding compensation of over Rwf1 billion in damages and reimbursement of medical expenses.

READ: Bad drug victims mull collective lawsuit against Kigali hospital

The patients had gone for different surgeries at the hospital, and were injected with an anaesthetic, Lidocaine which caused several side effects including damage to private parts, for those who had undergone circumcision.

During the court hearing on Wednesday March 23, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Gumisiriza Hilary from Ethos firm said his clients accuse the hospital of injecting them with a flawed drug which caused them side effects.

“My clients are suing the hospital for damages. It received them as its clients, only to inject them with a toxic drug which had devastating effects on them. The hospital needs to have done due diligence to know which drug they administer to patients, or else they are supposed to be condemned for their negligence,” said Mr Gumisiriza.

The hospital lawyers agreed that the victims had a reason to sue because they suffered injuries caused by the drug administered at the hospital however, the hospital said it used medicine from Abacus Pharma Ltd, a government laboratory in Butare.

In his response, the plaintiff’s lawyer said, his client is not concerned about who supplied the drug, what it deals with is the hospital.

The hospital continued charging the victims for treatment of the side effects of the drug the hospital administered, until much later when they stopped. Some patients sought specialised treatment in Kenya.

They have all experienced side effects such as total numbness of the injected part, and they are also undergoing irregular palpitations, something all victims share.
Before the lawsuit, the victims had written to the hospital wanting an out of court settlement and got no response.

Since March 2015, both the Kisementi-based hospital, and the Ministry of Health have been conspicuously quiet about the toxicity results, something which worried the victims.

Suspicions first arose after more than five people on whom Lidocaine was administered developed major complications. The drug was taken to Kenya for analysis but the results of the tests are yet to be released to the victims.

Although the wounds have now dried, the victims are worried about the likely long terms effects, because up to now nothing concrete has come to light about the wrong element in the drug that they were injected with.

“The toxic drug could be inside incubating, you don’t know what would happen to them after some time, it could be cancer or something else, they could be seated on a time bomb” said Mr Gumisiriza.

The case exposed a lack of control over drug imports, because it has been noted that everything else passes through Rwanda Bureau of Standards but drugs they just come straight from manufacturers to hospitals, something which poses a serious danger to patients and liability on the part of medical service providers.

The defendant’s lawyers said Abacus Pharma Ltd, a local company which imports drugs, admitted that it supplied a bad drug. From that background the defence lawyers want Abacus to be brought into the case, and it is likely that they will be in the next hearing on April 28.

The defence also said their client’s insurer Sonarwa will have to be involved if need arises, but concluded that it is Abacus Pharma Ltd to compensate the victims.