Urgent court bid for gangrene patient
2013-01-11 12:03
Mbombela - An urgent high court application could force
Mpumalanga's health department to expedite treatment for a patient with a gangrenous
foot, Beeld reported on Friday.
Pretoria lawyer Johan van der Vyver, acting on behalf of
patient George Earle, 52, has faxed and e-mailed a letter to Dr Clifford Mkasi,
Mpumalanga's MEC for health and welfare.
Earle, a diabetic, has been waiting since 22 December for
surgery in the Middelburg provincial hospital, apparently due to a shortage of
anaesthetists.
He was admitted after a toe amputation carried out in 2012
became infected, and told Beeld earlier this week that his leg would now have to
be amputated below the knee, as the infection had spread, and suppurating rot
had set in.
Van der Vyver said on Friday he would arrange for an
orthopaedic surgeon to visit Earle.
He had stated in his letter to Mkasi that the government
should provide urgent and correct medical treatment before the end of the day.
If this did not happen, Van der Vyver would proceed with a
court application to force the state to transfer Earle to Steve Biko Academic
Hospital in Pretoria for an amputation.
- SAPA
