In an unprecedented action, the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) decided that health centers are responsible for infections of patients acquired during their hospitalization. The Supreme Court of Justice confirms the judge ruling that had ordered the Ney Arias Lora Trauma Hospital to pay RD$10 million to a patient whose lost his leg after acquiring an infection at the medical center.
The Supreme Court rejected a motion filed by the trauma hospital against ruling No. 0030-1642-2023-SSEN-00268, issued by the Fourth Chamber of the Superior Administrative Court that ordered the compensation be paid to Félix Julián Encarnación Feliz. Encarnación Feliz had been transferred from a health center in Baní to the Dr. Ney Arias Lora Traumatological Hospital on 1 September 2016 for multiple traumas secondary to a traffic accident that day.
The Supreme Court ruled that health centers have the obligation to create safety conditions and adopt the necessary measures to prevent accidents and infections aimed at preventing patients from acquiring diseases within their facilities other than those that motivated their hospitalization.
Noticias SIN said that the RD$10 million would be paid by the Ministry of Hacienda and would not affect the finances of the hospital.
The decision opens the doors for multiple lawsuits against Dominican public hospitals at a major cost to Dominican taxpayers. The director of the Ney Arias Lora hospital says there are several other lawsuits for damages in course.
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Noticias SIN
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El Caribe
11 April 2024