Court dismisses petition accusing Longisa Hospital of negligence after girl's death

The High Court in Bomet has dismissed a petition accusing Longisa County Referral Hospital of medical negligence after a girl died from bee stings.

Diana Chepng’eno was stung by bees while playing with two other children on November 9, 2024.

The children were taken to the hospital, treated and the other two discharged. 

But Diana's aunt, Joan Cherotich, who sued as the administrator of her estate, told the court that nurses ignored her niece's suffering for hours.

“It was the second petitioner’s case that at around 8.30 pm, she was told that the first respondent did not have the medicine to counter the venom and that Diana had to be transferred to a better hospital (Tenwek Hospital),” court documents show. 

“That she was to part with Sh5,000 for the ambulance fuel and an additional Sh 50,000 for admission at Tenwek Hospital.”

Unable to raise the money, the family used a private vehicle to take her, but the girl began vomiting blood and was pronounced dead upon arrival at Tenwek. 

The petitioners, including the Independent Medico-Legal Unit and the Kelin, as an interested party, contended that the hospital’s failure to provide emergency treatment for hours amounted to torture, cruel and inhuman treatment and a violation of the right to health and life. 

They also blamed the Bomet County Government for systemic failures, pointing to the lack of an intensive care unit at the facility.

But the hospital and its medical superintendent, Dr Esau Kipngeno Langat, told the court that Diana was immediately put on emergency treatment and monitored continuously from the moment she arrived until the family decided to transfer her. 

He said the girl was already in a critical state because of the delay in bringing her for treatment, unlike the other children who were treated and discharged.

In a judgement delivered on Monday, Justice Julius Ng’arng’ar ruled that the family had failed to prove any breach of duty directly caused her death.

“From my analysis of the video evidence, it is my finding that it is insufficient to prove causation. It simply showed the victim in pain and the first respondent's staff in the background,” the judge stated.  

“The evidence failed to show a link between the first respondent’s staff’s actions or omission to the victim’s distress.” 

Regarding the victim's treatment, Justice Ng’arng’ar pointed out that the petitioners relied partly on hearsay regarding the hours before Cherotich arrived at the hospital.

“It was also an undisputed fact that the victim’s friends who had been stung by the same bees were brought to the first respondent at around noon, which meant that the victim was brought for medical attention approximately one-and-a-half hours after her friends,” the judge observed. 

“From the testimonies and pleadings, it was clear that the victim upon arrival at the first respondent was in stage 3 anaphylaxis reaction…which according to Dr Esau Kipngeno Langat (RW1) and Dr Vincent Langat (PW3) could be fatal.”

He also noted that the family had produced no proof to support the claim that the hospital demanded Sh5,000 and Sh50,000.

The petition, which had sought declarations of rights violations and orders for general, aggravated and exemplary damages, was dismissed with no order as to costs.