Widower Accuses German Hospital For Ineptitude

...Leading To The Death Of His Wife.
Mr. Frank Anin, a Ghanaian resident in Karsruhe, Germany, has vehemently accused the Stätisches Klinikum (hospital) in Karsruhe, Germany, for a medical error which according to him led to the untimely death of his wife, Mrs. Lydia Anin on March 26, 2009.

According to Mr. Frank Anin, in the early morning of Tuesday, March 24, 2009, his wife, the late Mrs. Lydia Anin, who was an employee at the Stätisches Klinikum (hospital) as a kitchen assistant had a stomach-ache. He said usually Lydia´s stomach-ache comes as a result of having dinner late at night, and going to bed within a short time after that. And this he said was partly because of her work schedule. However, he said she was kind of become used to the unfortunate systematic disorder although not because she was comfortable having such, or because she always recovers after medical attention, but because obviously she had no choice as an immigrant worker in Germany.

Mrs. Lydia Anin´s misfortune, according to her husband, started in Ghana some 16 years ago whiles she was being operated on for fibroid. He said a surgical error occurred, causing a cut in one of her intestines which he said Ghanaian doctors at the time were sceptical to carry out a plastic surgery for fear it might cause her death. Thereafter, he said a miracle took place and the intestine joined by itself in a way that could not be explained.

So he said on the morning of Tuesday, March 24, when his wife complained of stomach ache, he suggested she visits her general practitioner to seek medical attention as usual and he left to work. But on returning home from work in the afternoon, Mr. Anin found his wife still curled in bed moaning. So he got her prepared, and since it was past time to catch up with her general practitioner, he took her to the Stätisches Klinikum. They got to the hospital at around 1:00 p.m., and after diagnosis Mrs. Anin was taken to the research centre (Untersuchung) at the hospital for further examination.

Mr. Anin said some hours later, around 5:00 p.m., he was allowed to go and see his wife in a ward at the research centre where he found her on a drip (tropf hängen).

He said later on, a female doctor came and informed them that a plastic surgery would be carried out on Mrs. Anin on the intestine which was mistakenly slashed during a fibroid operation in Ghana some years back and later miraculously joined by itself.

Here Mr. Anin said his wife cautioned the doctor about her fears and apparently that of many Ghanaians about the implications of undergoing a plastic surgery. Mrs. Anin also told the doctor that she was been treated for thrombosis, and that her general practitioner had placed her under anticoagulant drug (PHENPRO-RATIOPHARM wirkstoff: Phenprocoumon 3mg), and had warned her to be careful not to sustain any cut in her body that the flow of blood in any such occurrence could not be stopped. He said the doctor replied saying that Ghana lacks the necessary equipments or the expertise to carry out a successful plastic surgery, hence the rate of death in such operations. And insisted plastic surgery was the only solution to remedy Lydia´s condition. She however advised that Lydia discontinued with the anticoagulant drug, but fell short of telling them as to when the operation will take place.

After much persuasion, Mr. Anin said he and his wife eventually became convinced and Lydia finally gave her consent for the operation to be carried out putting all her hopes on the German Doctors. When finally Mrs. Anin signed the concerned documents, it was around 6:30 p.m. By now her husband said he saw his wife gradually recovering, attributing that to the earlier medication administered on her. So he said he and his wife had hoped she would be allowed to go home for a few days, at least to get the effect of the anticoagulant drug out of her system, and perhaps use the opportunity as a devout Christian to seek divine intervention before returning to the hospital for the operation. But this was not to be. They were told since Lydia had signed the documents giving her consent for the operation to be carried out that the rest was in the hospital´s discretion. She was not allowed to go home. Mrs. Anin was admitted, and taken to ward 405 at the Intensive Care Unit at the Stätisches Klinikum a little after 9:00 p.m. Here Mr. Anin said he was relieved to see his wife engages in a friendly, hearty conversation with her new ward mate, a female inpatient. After a while, he decided to take the opportunity of his wife having a company to go home and get some rest and to return back the next morning. So at 10:00 p.m., he kissed his wife goodnight and left the hospital.

However, he said about 20 minutes after he´d left the hospital, he received a call from a nurse at the hospital informing him that the operation on his wife will be carried out that same night. Confused, Mr. Anin gathered some clothes and other personal items of his wife into a bag and rushed back to the hospital which was about ten minutes walk from his apartment, all the while thinking that his wife´s illness had worsened, but only to get there to find out her condition was the same as he had left her.

Mrs. Lydia Anin confirmed to her husband that she had been informed the operation will be carried out that very night. She took her bag, selected some needed items, and gave the rest to her husband to take back home.

The next morning, Wednesday, March 25, Mr. Anin went to the hospital in the morning but did not find his wife in her ward. After some inquiries, he was told to wait that his wife will soon be brought to her room. When he had waited for over an hour without seeing his wife, he again inquired from the nurses the where about of her and was again told to relax that she was well. Some moments after that, Mr. Anin said he heard his wife screaming in her local Ghanaian dialect, ¨Yesu-ei Yesu-ei Yesu-ei¨ (Jesus, Jesus, Jesus) continuously. Then he realised that she was being kept in a different ward. Why in God´s name is his wife being kept in another ward other than the one assigned to her earlier on? He thought, and again inquired from the nurses why his wife was being kept in that ward and was again told to take it easy that all was well. He said his pleadings to at least have a sight at his wife all fell into deaf ears; he had to rush back to his apartment to get his phonebook. He needed to make some calls. He needed some answers.

When he returned to the hospital, Mr Anin said he found his wife back in her ward at the ICU. A tube was attached to her abdomen carrying blood into a white plastic bag. She was pale, and her body was very hot. And she had on her forehead a small white towel. Mr. Anin said for the first time since he had taken his wife to the hospital the day before, he entertained fears. He realized Lydia´s blood flow could not be stopped, and recalled the warning by Lydia´s GP to be careful not to sustain any cut in her body for as long as she keeps taking the anticoagulant drug.

When she saw her husband, Lydia immediately requested that he rewet the towel which was on her forehead and placed it again, which he did and found out just in about 3 minutes that the towel was dried up, and that she was breathing sporadically. Then she requested that her husband call the attention of the nurses.

About five nurses came running to her aid, when Mr. Anin called on them. They realized that she was very hot with high temperature and her heart was failing. After a brief consultation, a second operation was arranged, and according to the surgeon´s report, Mrs. Anin´s heart stopped in the process.

This whole unfortunate incident, according Mr. Anin took place in a quickened pace that he had little time to comprehend. When the news of the passing away of his wife was eventually given to him, he was furious beyond control. He accused the hospital of ineptitude, saying he may not be a medical doctor but he knew the timing of the operation was wrong due to the anticoagulant drug effect in Lydia´s system. A claim, which Mrs. Anin´s general practitioner, strongly supports.

Mr. Frank Anin has vowed to seek every possible means to bring the hospital to justice.

Mr. Frank Anin

Ludwig-Windhorst Str 38

76187 Karlsruhe Tel: 0049 15118964936