KAMPALA – A Kampala City law firm – Luzige, Lubega, Kavuma & Co. Advocates on Thursday issued an intention to sue notice to the management of Paramount Hospital following unclear circumstances surrounding the unethical treatment and eventual detention of the body of Tereza Namugenyi
“We act for and on the behalf of Mr. Tamala Tofa and Namata Regina herein referred to as our clients on whose instructions we address you as hereunder.
“That our clients brought their mother and sister, respectively to your hospital for medicare,” started the notice.
The firm blamed the hospital for professional negligence and abdication of the hypocritical oath leading to the death of their client’s mother.
“After a period of time, your hospital discontinued her from oxygen in favour of an Asian patient who according to you was more critically ill than our clients’ mother, which grossly amounted to professional negligence and abdication of the hypocritical oath.
“After three days off oxygen, or clients’ mother died and you demanded Ugx31,000,000 to be paid by our clients before releasing the body of our client’s mother. Which amount cannot be paid by our indigent clients or relatives of the deceased and you still hold the body to date,” stated the notice.
The amount of money the hospital is demanding for is unreasonable, according to the notice.
“The figure is so exorbitant and with utmost respect to your hospital, the said action is equally repugnant to Public policy as you are using our client’s mother’s dead body as an object in the game of commercial ping pong. Dead bodies are for interment or cremation or other disposal without delay,” detailed the law firm.
It further stated, “Your concern is on the development for medical services solicited for by relatives who are still alive and not the deceased and there is a plethora of legal ways for binding such relatives to the debt owned. The dead body of the deceased ought not to be part of that equation as there is no property in a dead body; it cannot be offered or held as security for payment of a debt.”
The body is said to be missing from the hospital mortuary and the medical facility has been given up to July 3, before the legal team goes ahead to file a case against it.
“We therefore demand that you release the body of our client’s mother to us immediately, failure of which we are going to file a case against you in the civil Division of High Court to recover the same at your own peril, embarrassment and cost. We expect to hear from you by the 3rd day of July 2021 failure of which court’s intervention will be sought and stated above,” threatened the notice.
