Medical Lawsuit Child Regains Hearing

Gentamycin The four-year-old deaf girl at the centre of a record US$557,000 court battle regained her hearing in Colombo on Wednesday, one month after undergoing surgery for cochlear implants.The child – who became profoundly deaf in July 2007 after receiving a series of antibiotic injections at a Maldives hospital – was fitted with an external device, which works in conjunction with the implant by using electrical impulses to stimulate auditory nerves inside the ear.Meanwhile her parents are pursuing in a medical negligence case against the Ministry of Health for compensation, which reached court this week.HearingAudiologist Nusha Ishak at the Wickramarachchi Istitute for Speech and Hearing (WISH) centre, who fitted the equipment on Wednesday, said that the girl’s reaction had been “very good,” adding: “You could see her face lit up and she was smiling.”The device is placed around the earlobe, with a magnetic attachment on the scalp, and allows sounds to be detected and heard when it is switched on.The child will now receive regular speech therapy to re-introduce sounds, words and then sentences – a process which could take up to two years, according to Ishak.The child’s father, Ahmed Ihusan, said he was “very happy” about the treatment, adding that it had been “the only option” for his daughter.The child’s parents brought her to Colombo for the surgery just over a month ago after receiving the funds for the operation from donors.The procedure was carried out on 22 April at Colombo’s Apollo hospital and went well, according to her father.Iyaan’s parents have now moved to Colombo in order to enable her to receive rehabilitation therapy, which is crucial to her full treatment.The audiologist said the sessions may be hampered because the child speaks only Dhivehi, but there are no facilities for the process in Maldives.CourtThe family decided to take the case to court after a Malé doctor and several overseas paediatricians told them the antibiotic had been inappropriate in her case and was probably the cause of her hearing loss.The child was originally admitted to Thinadhoo Regional Hospital suffering a fever and a swollen arm in July 2007, after referral from the health centre on her island.Doctors gave her injections of the antibiotic Gentamycin, without providing any warning of deafness as a possible side effect. Her parents say they believe it was too large a dose.The hospital also failed to check the child’s weight or the serum concentration in the injections, the suit alleges, plus the drug was inappropriate to her condition.Represented by lawyer Husnu Suood on a pro bono basis, the family are suing for Rf 7.1 million (US$557,000 ) compensation to cover the cochlear implants, along with six-monthly maintenance for the rest of her life and associated costs for travel and care. It is the largest such case ever brought in Maldives.The family have so far been offered no help by the Maldivian authorities, and only minimal assistance was offered for her medical costs, though her parents say they sought assistance from the Ministry of Health, President’s Office and Department of Social Security.But the Ministry of Health responded that the minister was too busy to assist, according to the parents; the President’s Office was unable to help and Social Security offered just one set of tickets to Trivandrum and US $300. The court case is ongoing.Cochlear ImplantsFinance for the operation was provided by donors whose son had undergone the same operation at age seven, and is now able to hear normally.Unlike hearing aids, the cochlear implant does not amplify sound, but works by directly stimulating auditory nerves inside the ear. Approximately 100,000 people worldwide have received them.The WISH centre says about three patients a month receive implants through them, with the main barrier to uptake being the high costs of surgery and aftercare.Owner of the centre Mihira Wickramarachchi said he hopes to develop facilities for Maldivian with hearing impairments. The girl was the second Maldivian to have received this type of surgery in Sri Lanka.Wickramarachchi said he was looking to find a partner organisation in order to set up a speech and hearing rehabilitation centre in the Maldives, where he believes there is a “great need”.