An 11-year-old boy named Nelson George has taken legal action against Limi Children’s Hospital Limited, filing a ₦100 million lawsuit over alleged misdiagnosis and mistreatment that resulted in the damage to one of his testes.
Nelson, represented by his father, Bankole George, initiated the lawsuit before Justice Akanbi Yusuf of the FCT High Court in Kubwa.
The young plaintiff is also seeking an order for the hospital to pay ₦5 million as the cost of filing the suit. Additionally, he is requesting the court to compel the medical facility to issue a formal letter of apology for the purported misconduct.
The case, marked FCT/HC/CV/7356/2023, was filed on August 28, 2023, by Nelson’s lawyer, Emmanuel Ekpenyong of Fred-Young & Evans LP.
The claimant has also joined the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Investigation Panel, and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission as the 2nd to 4th defendants in the matter.
According to Nelson’s joint statement of claim, the ordeal began on January 30, 2023, when he experienced severe abdominal pains and swelling in his genital and scrotum areas.
Bankole George, Nelson’s father and a subscriber of the Platinum package of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS AXA MANSARD), promptly rushed him to Limi Children’s Hospital for treatment.
After preliminary checks and laboratory tests, including a scan of his genitals, the hospital diagnosed Nelson with epididymo-orchitis/torsion.
However, it is alleged that the hospital focused only on epididymo-orchitis during the four days of treatment, neglecting the torsion mentioned in the scan report.
Subsequently, Nelson was discharged on February 2, 2023. However, on February 9, he complained of discomfort again, and upon readmission to Limi Children’s Hospital, he was treated for malaria, sepsis, and peptic ulcer disease.
Nelson was then taken to Nisa Premier Hospital in Abuja, where a scan revealed a Torsion (TT).
The lawsuit alleges that the delay in discovering and addressing testicular trauma at Limi Children’s Hospital resulted in severe damage to Nelson’s testes.
The hospital, however, denied any wrongdoing, asserting that their actions were in line with standard medical protocol.
The defendants, including the hospital, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Investigation Panel, and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, are yet to respond to the originating processes.
Justice Akanbi Yusuf of FCT High Court, Kubwa, has scheduled the hearing for Monday, December 20, 2023.
