A Vietnamese woman who had both kidneys removed accidentally in surgery will receive lifetime compensation from the hospital at fault following a court ruling, state media reported Friday.
Hua Cam Tu was awarded permanent support for the botched operation in a verdict delivered on Thursday against the Can Tho General Hospital, reported the Tuoi Tre newspaper.
Tu was admitted to the hospital in 2011 for surgery to treat kidney water retention, reported the Thanh Nien newspaper at the time.
Owing to a condition called horseshoe kidney, which causes both kidneys to fuse, doctors mistook both kidneys for the single, right kidney and removed them both.
When the woman’s condition worsened following surgery, which had initially been declared successful, an ultrasound revealed that she no longer had any kidneys.
After being put on dialysis, she received an emergency transplant. However, she still requires immune-system-suppressant drugs to prevent her body from attacking the donated organ.
The hospital initially provided compensation, it refused to cover lifetime treatment, offering only 264 dollars a month for the first few months before halving that amount.
Compensation stopped completely in 2013.
The court awarded her a lump sum of 13,300 dollars as well as a regular payment of 256 dollars per month for the rest of her life.(dpa/NAN)
SH