Woman sues for R2m over botched operations

Mahikeng - A Rietspruit woman is suing the North West health MEC for nearly R2m for allegedly bungled cervical operations, The Star reported on Friday.

"The claim comprises... past and future medical, hospital and related treatment, past and future loss of earnings/earning capacity, and general damages for pain and suffering," Jean-Paul Rudd of law firm Adams & Adams was quoted as saying.

In 2009, Catherine Mokale had a pain in her abdomen. She was told by a gynaecologist that she had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) III and her womb needed to be removed.

CIN refers to changes in the cervix that may or may not be precursors to cervical cancer.

Pain

She had a hysterectomy and two years later began feeling pains again. She went for a check-up and was told she had cysts on her ovaries.

An operation was done in 2012 and a "pad was left inside me", she told the newspaper.

Soon after Mokale began experiencing a stench coming from her genitals and had problems urinating. She manually removed the swab.

Mokale filed a complaint at the hospital and was called for a meeting. She was not satisfied with the outcome and approached the public protector.

Another meeting was scheduled with the hospital and she was told her file was lost and they could not perform another operation with a new file.

Mokale works as a casual worker at Pick n Pay and supports her son and her disabled parents.