Durban - Three Verulam siblings are hoping investigations by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health into their mother’s death will give them closure.
Mala Lutchman, 44, a housewife, who suffered with arthritis, went to Osindisweni Hospital for a routine check on March 9 and after receiving an injection for pain allegedly developed an allergic reaction and died.
Her daughter, Farahana Bhagawandin, said Lutchman accompanied her to the hospital because she needed to get the results of her blood tests.“We arrived at 5am and while waiting for the doctor, my mum decided to go for a check-up. She suffered with arthritis, which affected her legs,” explained Bhagawandin, who said that after the consultation her mother went for blood tests and an injection was administered for pain.Bhagawandin said she was still in the queue, waiting to see a doctor, when her mother returned.
“She told me the injection was hurting and shortly thereafter, her mouth started to twitch, her eyes turned red and she felt hot. She had been given a Voltaren injection.”
Two years ago, Lutchman had the same injection, said Bhagawandin, and suffered with similar side effects.
Bhagawandin advised her mother to inform a nurse.
“But she was told to rejoin the queue.”
She said while she was with the doctor, her mother collapsed and was taken to an examination room.
“When I arrived, two doctors and a few nurses were standing around her. I asked a nurse what was going on and she told me to wait for the doctor.”
While trying to call her dad, to explain what had happened, the nurse called her back into the hospital.
“The doctor said my mom had died from a mild heart attack. I could not believe what I was hearing. I questioned the doctor on how this could have happened because my mother had, minutes earlier, informed the nurse on duty that she was allergic to the Voltaren and needed assistance but the doctor did not have any answers.”
Breaking the news to her siblings and her dad, she said, was the hardest thing she had to do.
Health spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi said they were investigating and awaiting the results of the post mortem.
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