By Amin Kef Sesay
Wife of the late AIG Joseph Pizarro Christian Charley (popularly known as AIG Chris Charley), Florence Charley, has sued the Minister of Health And Sanitation, the Medical Superintendent (Officer In Charge) of 34 Military Hospital, and the Attorney General & Minister of Justice at the High Court of Sierra Leone.
The Writ of Summons issued by Marrah and Associates on the 7th February 2022 is jointly and severally against the Defendants for the following: General Damages for medical negligence occasioning the death of the late Joseph Pizarro Christian Charley, any further or other relief that the Court may deem fit, just and thirdly, for incurred costs.
Particulars of the claim states that the Plaintiff was legally married to Joseph Pizarro Christian Charley until his death on the 11th June 2020.
Furthermore, that the deceased was an officer in the Sierra Leone Police and retired at the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police adding how until his untimely demise, the deceased was ordinarily resident at 13 Allen Street, Freetown.
It continued that on the 10th June, 2020, the deceased was taken to the 34 Government Hospital after complaining of weakness, loss of taste, smell, coughing and shortness of breath.
The deceased was transmitted to the said 34-Military Hospital, the legal team underscored, because it was a designated COVID-19 hospital.
It also maintained that the deceased did not receive any proper care in the hands of the medical personnel at the 34-Military Hospital by reason of the lack of necessary medical equipment/facilities and inefficient or poor monitoring of the deceased’s oxygen saturation level which caused his brain to be starved of needed oxygen.
Also, that the deceased was negligently attended to by the medical personnel at the said 34 Government Military Hospital which precipitated his death less than 48 hours of admission at the said hospital.
With regards the particulars of medical negligence, the legal representatives of the complainant, Florence Charley, stated that the deceased was taken to the isolation unit/center of the said 34 Military Hospital on the 10th June 2020 and was placed on oxygen and as at that time his oxygen saturation was at eighty-four percent (84%) and kept on declining to seventy-seven percent.
It also stated that the broad spectrum antibiotics of Azithromycin and Ceftriaxone were administered to the deceased shortly after he was admitted.
They maintained that the isolation ward had new Oxygen concentrators, but no oxygen cylinder. The concentrators, according to them, did not deliver adequate oxygen support since the oxygen saturation of the deceased was not increasing.
That the deceased’s relative, Dr. Foday Morovia obtained another oxygen cylinder from Choithram’s hospital on which the deceased was placed subsequently,
They also pointed out that the deceased’s oxygen then rose again from 77 to 84% but that he was still below 90%. That the said Dr. Morovia enquired severally whether the doctors or the nurses had High Flow Oxygen or a Bipap Machine but their response was in the negative.
The said Dr. Monrovia, based on what the lawyers said, had to leave the hospital because of the curfew, that about 5am on 11th June 2020, the deceased telephoned Dr. Morovia that the oxygen cylinder that he had brought from Choithram’s hospital was empty as he was no longer feeling the air coming out of the cylinder.
The said Dr Morovia, it was also stated, called the duty doctor to make arrangement for another oxygen canister since the oxygen concentrator was not delivering enough oxygen into the deceased. That the deceased was for several hours placed on the oxygen concentrator until the oxygen cylinder arrived and after the curfew ended, the said Dr. Morovia came back to the hospital between 6 and 7am but met the deceased in more respiratory distress.
Dr. Morovia then left to inquire about the result of the COVID test of the deceased which was taken the previous day. By the time Dr. Morovia came back, it was stated, the deceased did not have any pulse, was not breathing and had lost consciousness and was visibly gasping for air. That the said Dr. Morovia and some other doctors tried to perform CPR to resuscitate the deceased, but he could not survive.
The legal representatives categorically stated that by reason of the particulars of negligence, the Defendants failed in their duty of care towards the deceased through the negligence and/or omissions of the medical personnel on duty at the time the deceased was admitted until his demise at the 34 Military Hospital. They also stated that the estate of the deceased has in consequence suffered loss and damages as a result of the conduct of the Defendants.
