…as woman at centre of fund-raising appeal says negligence could cost her the eye
Moorosi Tsiane
A KHUBETSOANA woman whose long battle with a debilitating eye condition prompted a public fund-raising appeal last month has sued the Ministry of Health and Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH) for M6 million.
She alleges that a negligent operation at the hospital left her in pain, facing financial losses and at risk of permanently losing the eye.
In papers filed in the High Court this past week, ‘Makarabo Letsoela accuses QMMH doctors who operated on her eye in October 2024 of failing to exercise the care and skill expected of medical practitioners.
The lawsuit comes barely a month after the Sunday Express’s sister paper, the Lesotho Times, reported on Ms Letsoela’s plight. The Boiketlo Ba Basali Foundation had then revived a campaign to raise funds for her to seek specialist treatment in India.
At the time, QMMH declined to comment on her allegations. Managing Director Dr ‘Makhoase Ranyali said Ms Letsoela “has lodged a case against us” and that the matter was already before the courts.
The Health Principal Secretary, the Ministry of Health, the QMMH Medical Superintendent and the Attorney General are cited as respondents.
Ms Letsoela says she entered into an oral agreement with the respondents on or around 1 October 2024 for the operation. She says it was a term of that agreement that the surgery would be performed “with such professional skill as is reasonable for a medical practitioner”.
She alleges that the surgeon failed to perform the operation with due care and diligence and then failed to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage to her eye. Instead, she says, “he impaired the ability of the eye to heal”.
She further alleges that the respondents failed to ensure she received proper and timely medical attention after the operation. She says they also failed to take reasonable steps to protect her from the risk of “total and permanent blindness”.
Had the doctors exercised due care and skill, she argues, “damage to the applicant’s eye could have been prevented”.
Because the doctors were acting in the course and scope of their employment, Ms Letsoela wants the respondents held vicariously liable for their conduct.
She says the consequences of the operation have gone well beyond the procedure itself.
“As a result of the respondent’s negligence, I experienced pain and suffering, a loss of earnings, both in the past and in the future, and had to undergo further medical treatment with resultant medical costs and will have to undergo further medical treatment in the future,” she states.
“I am even likely to permanently lose my eye.”
Her claim is made up of M1 million for present and future medical expenses, M1.5 million for pain and suffering, M1 million for disfigurement and M1.4 million for loss of amenities of life. She is also claiming M500 000 for disability and M600 000 for loss of earnings.
Ms Letsoela says a letter of demand was served on the respondents “in terms of the law”, but they have not responded to it.
In an interview with the Lesotho Times last month, Ms Letsoela said her condition began in 2019. She said it had since taken her through several procedures at QMMH and at National Hospital in Bloemfontein, South Africa. She alleged then that a debulking operation at QMMH, followed by a skin graft performed before the wound had healed, had worsened her condition.
She has relied on public fund-raising to pay for treatment after government efforts to send her to India for specialist care fell through.
The respondents are yet to file their opposing papers.