A Durban family is seeking millions of rands in damages from the RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth after a family member was discovered in the hospital with maggots in his mouth.
The beleaguered hospital has come under investigation by the provincial health department after a video of 52-year-old Sadek Ebrahim went viral on social media.
He later died. Now, Durban attorney Theasen Pillay- who is representing the family says the hospital and department have thirty days to respond to their allegations that the Ebrahim was not properly cared for while at the hospital.
“The nature of the claim itself is in terms of the treatment that the deceased suffered and it’s indicative of the state of affairs prevailing throughout the country in government hospitals. There’s just a complete disregard for human life and we just thought that this is something that we must get involved in and fight for the rights of patients.”
Pillay says the number of claims against public hospitals is on the increase.
“We do have a large amount of claims emanating from government hospitals but also some private healthcare. One of the reasons is a lack of attention that gets given to people in these facilities and sometimes like in this instance harm is caused.”
