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Alarm system and tube disconnection likely to be debated over
THE negligence suit filed against the National University Hospital (NUH) by a kidney patient over a botched dialysis session is heading for trial in November.
The hearing is expected to focus on an allegedly faulty alarm system on the machine, among other things.
The patient, Madam Tee Soh Hah, 58, suffered brain damage and became bedridden after the mishap at NUH on March 17, 2006.
She was hooked up to a dialysis machine for about 40 minutes when a tube connecting the machine to her chest became disconnected. She bled heavily. At one point, her heart stopped beating and she had to be revived. Madam Tee, through lawyer S. Palaniappan, later sued the hospital.
The manufacturer of the machine, medical products giant Baxter Healthcare (Asia), which the hospital named as responsible for the alleged defect, is now arguing that the alarm is not always triggered when the tubes become disconnected.
In any case, the alarm system should not be the only check to see if anything is amiss, Baxter said in its court documents.
However, the hospital countered that while the alarm system may not be set off when the tube is only partially disconnected, it should have been triggered in Madam Tee’s case, because the tube came off completely.
NUH also pointed out that in a manual issued by Baxter, where the possibility of disconnection was raised, it referred to “needle access dislodgements” and not bloodline tube disconnections. Patients are connected either by needles or tubes, and in Madam Tee’s case, a bloodline tube was used.
Central to the case is how the tube became disconnected, among other things.
The court is also expected to decide on whether she might have dislodged the tube when she moved, or whether other conditions, such as the weakness of her blood vessels, could have led to it becoming unfastened.
According to court documents, NUH claimed that the $27,800 machine, acquired in 2003, should have sounded its alarm within seconds, but it was not triggered until three minutes later.
This led to a loss of response time, which could have prevented blood loss and injury to the patient, the hospital claimed.
NUH, defended by lawyer Kuah Boon Theng, pointed to Baxter’s undertaking that the machine was fully functional and that the hospital would not be liable for any losses if it malfunctioned.
But Baxter, in defence papers filed last month by lawyers from Drew & Napier, argued that the alarm system is not “intended to replace the assessments and observations of caregivers”.
Baxter added that the disconnection of the tubes may go unnoticed if they were covered by blankets, among other things.
A High Court pre-trial conference held last week will be followed by a further session later this week.
The month-long trial has been scheduled to begin on Nov 1.
About the case
KIDNEY patient Tee Soh Hah became bedridden and brain-damaged after a routine dialysis session went wrong, and is suing the National University Hospital (NUH) for negligence.
The 58-year-old suffered brain damage and became bedridden after a mishap at the hospital on March 17, 2006.
She had been hooked up to a dialysis machine for about 40 minutes when a tube connecting the machine to her chest became disconnected. As a result of the profuse bleeding that followed, she became disabled.
In 2007, the High Court declared her to be of unsound mind and incapable of managing her affairs, and appointed her son Eugene Gan to manage her affairs. She is now being cared for by two maids.
Madam Tee, through lawyer S. Palaniappan, wants damages for pain and suffering, plus costs related to medical treatment and job loss.
She sued NUH, which in turn named medical products company Baxter Healthcare (Asia) as third party in the case for supplying it with an allegedly defective machine.
It wants to be reimbursed by Baxter, as third party, should Madam Tee succeed in her claim.
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