Ex-IEBC commissioner Thomas Letangule awarded Ksh2.6M for wife’s death at hospital

By , K24 Digital
On Thu, 22 Oct, 2020 15:36 | < 1 min read
Esther Letangule died on April 10, 2013 shortly after being admitted to the Family Care Medical Centre. [PHOTO | FILE]
Esther Letangule died on April 10, 2013 shortly after being admitted to the Family Care Medical Centre. [PHOTO | FILE]
Esther Letangule died on April 10, 2013 shortly after being admitted to the Family Care Medical Centre. [PHOTO | FILE]

Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Commissioner Thomas Letangule will receive Ksh2.6 million from Family Care Medical Centre as compensation for his wife’s death during childbirth.

Letangule’s spouse, Esther Letangule, died in April 2013 at the facility, which has now been successfully implicated in the death.

The ex-IEBC Commissioner, Letangule, had sued for special damages.

Justice Lucy Njuguna on Thursday, October 22, ruled that there was medical negligence by Family Care, which led to the death of Esther.

Thomas Letangule had told the court that on April 10, 2013, his wife visited Family Medical Care Centre for antenatal care. Esther, according to her spouse, had complained of blurred vision, swelling of the limbs and face and a severe headache. However, upon arriving at the Family Care Medical Centre in Nairobi, she wasn’t immediately attended to despite being admitted to the facility.

Her condition, consequently, deteriorated, leading to her death on April 10, the same day she was admitted to the hospital.

However, Esther was safely delivered of a baby girl named Namunyak.

“The plaintiff (Thomas Letangule) avers that the aforesaid injury, pain and subsequent death was solely caused by the negligence and carelessness of the hospital at the material time, and the plaintiff holds them liable for the breach of their duty of care,” read a part of Justice Njuguna’s judgement.

Letangule said that shortly before his wife’s death, she was healthy, and lived a happy life.

Family Care Medical Centre, however, denied being negligent while attending to Esther Letangule. The hospital said in court that it had attended to Mrs Letangule with utmost professionalism.

Esther Letangule is survived by her spouse, Thomas, and three children: Brigel, Warren and Namunyak.