You are here

Home

Legal battle brewing over mother’s death

Radhica Sookraj
Published: 
Friday, January 4, 2013
Sascha Lyssa Bisnath

 

After three weeks of grief, relatives of Sasha Lyssa Bisnath have finally obtained her medical records and are now initiating legal action against the private hospital where she died.
 
Bisnath bled to death on December 20 after giving birth to her second child, via Caesarian Section, at a private nursing home in La Romaine. Her family is claiming negligence caused her demise.
 
In an interview yesterday, Bisnath’s husband, Damien, questioned discrepancies in the reports which were being perused by a privately hired legal and medical team.
 
Damien said he spent several hours speaking with his attorneys who advised him not to disclose any details. He said his attorney obtained the documents from the hospital staff on Tuesday afternoon, weeks after the first request was made by the family.
 
Bisnath said life without his wife was difficult. “The days are longer for me. I am not feeling better at all. My daughter Solara is always crying for mommy. She keeps asking where she is. I tell her that her mother went in heaven but she doesn’t understand what is heaven. She wants to know when mommy is coming back,” Damien said.
 
He thanked the company he works for, Trinidad Cement Ltd, for providing counselling to them.
 
Meanwhile, Bisnath’s uncle, Bishnu Baboolal, said no amount of compensation could bring back his niece.
 
“Its a bit early to talk about compensation. The hospital director said he wants to settle this amicably but we do not know what that means? We are concerned about the discrepancies in the report,” Baboolal said.
 
He said Bisnath was allowed to bleed from midnight to 4.35 pm and alleged there was no staff to care for her. Baboolal also pointed out that the hospital bills were not matching up. Baboolal said they paid $21,000 to the private hospital for Bisnath’s Caesarian Section, which was done by a female surgeon.
 
He added: “What is disheartening is that no one looked after her. No attention was given to her until 4.35 pm when her mom came and saw the excess bleeding and started to make noise at the front desk. The doctor was nowhere on the scene. 
 
“The doctor left and went on her own business. I visited my niece around 2.30 pm and I could see blood on the sheets. We kept pressing the buzzer and nobody came. No one responded.” 
 
He said the medical records from the San Fernando General Hospital would be delivered to the family today.
 
Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said yesterday he had not yet received a full report of the death.
 
“We have a preliminary report from the hospital. I put the Chief Medical Officer to assign officials to get the notes from the private hospital and they will report to me  as soon as possible,” he added.
 
Bisnath was rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital after she went into shock and started losing blood. She died at the hospital at around 8.15pm on December 20. 
 
Two separate autopsies showed she died as a result of disseminated intra-vascular coagulation and bleeding. 
 
Last week, Dr Kumar Sundarneedi of the Ministry of Health said appropriate action would be taken against the nursing home if negligence was found.
News

Disclaimer

User comments posted on this website are the sole views and opinions of the comment writer and are not representative of Guardian Media Limited or its staff. Guardian Media Limited accepts no liability and will not be held accountable for user comments.

Please help us keep out site clean from inappropriate comments by using the flag option.

Guardian Media Limited reserves the right to remove, to edit or to censor any comments. Any content which is considered unsuitable, unlawful or offensive, includes personal details, advertises or promotes products, services or websites or repeats previous comments will be removed.

Before posting, please refer to the Community Standards, Terms and conditions and Privacy Policy