Ebola victim family threatens lawsuit

Family members and colleagues of the late Michael Tengbeh, who was pronounced dead from the Ebola Virus Disease by the Charles Rennie Hospital in Kakata, Margibi County have threatened sue the administration of the hospital, claiming that the victim was killed by doctors at the hospital and did not die from  Ebola as was announced by the hospital.

The late Michael Tengbeh, was a trainee at the Kakata Rural Teacher Training Institute or KRTTI in Margibi. A recent graduate of  the KRTTI, Thomas Samolah told The NewDawn on July 23, 2014 via mobile phone that they have gathered information from family members of the deceased that the cause of death is not in any way related to Ebola as claimed by the C. H. Rennie Family.

He narrated that the father of the late Michael Tengbeh explained that his son had a family sickness traceable to his mother’s background, which according to him, had killed two of his sisters. Thomas said the father further averred that it was a family member who threw the sickness on them (Michael’s mother, sisters and others).

He noted further that they had intended to offer a sacrifice, knowing the cause of the problem and that the late Michael was needed within that period but unfortunately, doctors at the C. H. Rennie had earlier diagnosed him of having laser fever, while pronouncing within that same period that he died of Ebola.

Thomas further narrated that the doctors kept their late colleague in an isolated area and did not care to cater to him, something, he said, was one of the factors led to his sudden death.

He added that the hospital released information to them that they took the specimen of the late Michael and brought at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital or JFK in Monrovia within the period of two days which he said is untrue because anybody could travel to Monrovia from Kakata twice before the sun sets in a day.

Moreover, he averred that all of the medical doctors and nurses who came in contact with the late Michael Tengbeh were thoroughly observed by the hospital for21 after which they were declared negative.

Thomas added that the medical team from Gbarpolu County where the late Michael Tengbeh hailed from came to Kakata to inquire information concerning his death but there was no one around from the C.H. Rennie to provide detailed information.

He said the hospital also gave misleading information to the media concerning Michael’s death, adding that there were more than two hundred students living on the campus at the time Michael Tengbeh was alive and he was always in their midst, noting that not a single one of them contracted the virus after they were also observed.

Meanwhile, doctors at the C.H. Rennie have refused to comment on the claims on grounds that they are not satisfied with a story published on the hospital by The NewDawn concerning the same Ebola issue.

In the midst of reporters on the hospital main compound, Dr. Hawa M. Kromah, Margibi Health Officer and Dr. Adolphus T. Yeiah, Medical Director of the C. H. Rennie Hospital angrily said the media is not carefully disseminating the information to the public so they would not speak for fear being misquoted. Dr. Kromah said people are accusing them of killing patients at the hospital under the pretext of Ebola, but God is not at sleep.

She also claimed that students of the KRTTI have planned to set ablaze the C. H. Rennie Hospital on grounds that their colleague was killed by doctors at the hospital, who attributed the cause of death to Ebola disease. But Thomas Samolah denied the claim by Dr. Kromah.

Dr. Kromah: “People are claiming that we are killing the patients at the hospital in the name of Ebola but God is not sleeping; another person just died from the same KRTTI and he is a roommate of Tengbeh”.

Asked to give the name and location of the alleged second Ebola victim, she responded, “I don’t know; you go find the place for yourself. I am not going to grant you any interview.”

For his part, Dr. Yeiah said until the story published in The DawnDawn about nurses being quarantined at the C. H. Rennie Hospital is corrected, he would not speak to this paper and threatened to go to court. According to him, the caption of the story: “10 Nurses quarantined at C. H. Rennie Hospital” is not in line with details of the story.