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{
    "id": 1567717,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1567717/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 199,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mariam Omar",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. I also rise to support the Motion on the Adoption of the Report by the Standing Committee on Health regarding the Petition before the Senate by Mercy, regarding alleged medical negligence and staff incompetence, which led to the tragic death of Annita at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. These are the types of Petitions we handle in the Committee, where I serve as Vice-Chair. This is an emotional petition involving a six-year-old child, Annita, who lost her life due to alleged negligence by a doctor. The key issues raised in the Petition include the failure to properly locate and remove a foreign object from her body, despite numerous procedures conducted. This is indicative of incompetence on the part of the doctors involved. As a Committee, we also undertook a thorough inquiry into the matter raised with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentist Union (KMPDU) to compile these reports. During the Petition process, the Committee encountered frustrations. The petitioner informed us that she faced difficulties obtaining information from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital regarding the procedures and the issue of the missing teeth. She narrated how she was asked to lower her tone so that the medical staff would attend to her daughter. If she did not comply, her daughter would not be attended to. This indicates a collaboration between the hospital and the KMPDU, which violates the principle of patient confidentiality. I raise this issue because the KMPDU shared the patient's information with another party, leading to further mishandling during the investigation. We also found out that when negligence occurs, the patient normally seeks investigations from the KMPDU. However, if the KMPDU allegedly supports medical negligence, mismanages cases and fails to diligently follow up on them, it subjects victims to humiliation, harassment and intimidation by certain individuals within the KMPDU. In this case, Mama Mercy has even identified and named individuals within the KMPDU who have humiliated and harassed her. I call upon the KMPDU to address these individuals to ensure such incidents do not recur. We also recognized the need to review our medical education system. We have encountered numerous cases of negligence, one at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital another in Kiambu and another at Kenyatta National Referral Hospital. There is also the tragic case in Kirinyaga involving baby Ridhwan, who was misdiagnosed, leading to the amputation of his fingers, and later, his passing. These cases underscore the urgent need to review our medical professional ethics. What is taught in medical institutions does not always align with what is happening in practice. If professional ethics and medical education were properly implemented, such kind of negligence could not have happened."
}