4 lawsuits to be filed against Northern Regional Doctor

The government will be receiving notice of four lawsuits against Nicaraguan Doctor Geovannia Orozco of the Northern Regional Hospital and the Attorney General’s Office this Friday. Dr. Orozco is the obstetrician at the center of allegations of medical negligence at the hospital in Orange Walk where several women and newborns suffered severe complications after c-section surgeries. With the representation of Attorney Anthony Sylvestre; Magdalena Chable, Alicia Patt, Sally Coh and Reina Gomez are suing for damages. Chable’s newborn daughter, Romelie Osgala and Coh’s baby boy Reynaldo Patt have both been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and microcephaly. It means that both children will suffer from seizures for the rest of their lives while the brain damage will cause developmental problems; essentially they will need lifelong treatment.

Meanwhile, Gomez’ baby girl, Harmony Burgos, died on December first, a day after birth.  The death certificate shows that Harmony suffered hypoxemia, which is low oxygen in the blood and persistent pulmonary hypertension which was reportedly because her heart rate was not monitored by the doctor as it should have been. Also listed in the causes of death were persistent fecal circulation and severe meconium aspiration syndrome, meaning that the distressed fetus passed her first fecal waste before delivery, contaminating the amniotic fluid which was then ingested. Finally, there’s the case of Alicia Patt. While her baby was not seriously affected, alleged negligence during the surgery resulted in the removal of Patt’s womb and ovaries. Sylvestre says they have gotten a second opinion from another doctor, who supports that if it wasn’t a case of negligence, the life altering surgeries would not have been necessary.

The damages to be rewarded if the women are successful will be determined by the court, but the precedent has been set by the landmark case of Georgia Matute against Dr. Raju Meenavalli and the government. Matute’s daughter, Janae, developed cerebral palsy after being prematurely delivered by c-section and in 2010, the Supreme Court awarded damages of over two million dollars. That was reduced to one point five million dollars in April of this year when Dr. Raju appealed the ruling.