Mishra Owned Mediheal Hospital Ropped In A Series Of Scandals With Patients

Mediheal Hospital doesn’t seem to catch a breath anymore from complaints and accusations from patients. A doctor at the Mediheal Diagnostic and Fertility Centre Limited, a subsidiary of Mediheal Group of Hospitals owned by Indian born self-declared obstetric gynaecologist from Odisha, India, cum politician Dr. Swarup Ranjan Mishra, former Kesses Member of Parliament (MP) have been ordered to pay over Sh1.1 million to a woman they agreed to collect an egg from last year to give to an unknown recipient.

Swarup Mishra.

The Nairobi-based hospital and a doctor at the facility Dr Shaunak Khandwala were ordered by Milimani Magistrate Lucy Njora to pay the plaintiff, Anatasha Chepngeno (code-named AC), Sh1,139,665.06 for breach of contract.

Mediheal and Khandawala have been given 10 days to pay the ordered amount to lawyer Geoffrey Langat of Fatah Advocates.

Through a ruling delivered on August 9, 2023, in default of appearance after Mediheal and Khandawala failed to file a defence in the case filed by Langat in 2022, the magistrate ordered the facility and the doctor to settle the payment.

“Take notice that an interlocutory judgement was entered against you (Mediheal and Dr Khandwala) in default of appearance. A decree and certificate of costs were drawn and decretal sum now payable to plaintiff (woman identified AC) is Sh1,139,665.” Langat states in the demand for pay to the hospital dated August 10, 2023.

According to the ruling, the hospital and the doctor have been ordered to pay within 10 days, failing which auctioneers will descend on their property to recover the said amount.

On January 30, 2023, the magistrate   entered a judgment against the medic and the health facility when they failed to respond to the case filed last year for breach of contract.

“Judgement is hereby entered for the plaintiff as against the defendants (Mediheal and Dr Khandwala) in the sum of Sh950,000 plus costs and interest.” Milimani Magistrate Njora ruled.

The interests was set at Sh132,115.06 while the legal and other costs were set at Sh57,550.

In the undefended suit, Anatasha Chepngeno told the court that on November 6, 2021, she entered into a written contract with the defendants to be an egg donor.

The defendants thereafter “put the plaintiff (ac) through a follicle retrieval (IVP) procedure which could lead to the extraction of the follicle.”

The court heard that the procedure, which could take 45 days, involved laboratory tests, a strict diet and 12 injections that could disrupt her normal menstrual cycle and disrupt the natural hormonal process.

“The process was to finally lead to induced extraction/harvest of the ovum by Khandwala to be sold to recipients not known to AC.” Langat stated in the evidence to the court.

According to the agreement, Anatasha was to be paid Sh950,000.

However, Langat told the court that a copy of the agreement was not issued to his client Anatasha when both parties executed it.

On December 15, 2022, when the plaintiff was due to harvest the follicles, the defendants terminated the said agreement and chased Anatasha away “without proper communication or counselling”.

The court heard that as a result, the process was unilaterally stopped by the defendants and she was later given medication which led to “painful follicles, causing her to go through a long period of pain and suffering”.

Langat told the court that failing to complete the agreed-upon process resulted in psychological torture for the complainant.

The judge heard that the woman could be suffering from the effects of hormonal imbalance, leading to unusually moody moments that have affected her normal daily activities.

Langat told the court the woman had suffered loss and damage.

In her ruling, the judge said the plaintiff had proved her case against the defendants and granted judgment in her favour.

Organ Trafficking

Despite being Buoyed as a thriving medical transformation center after undertaking over 200 kidney transplants since the inauguration of the hospital’s Kidney transplant Unit in 2019, the much hyped  Mediheal Group of Hospitals continue to be dogged by endless disputes.

Mediheal has numerously been in the public limelight over accusations of organ transplant and trafficking allegations, claims that the hospital and the alleged patient identified as John Kogo from Eldoret vehemently disowned.

While seeking gag orders from the matter being publicised, in an affidavit, Mishra said that the organ transplant trafficking allegations were severely denting the image of the hospital locally and internationally.

The allegations led to panic among current and potential patients, investors, partners, financiers and donors resulting in loss of business and opportunities which is hurting the hospital irreparably.

Separately, in July 2021, the facility was ordered to pay a former employee Sh2million as damages for testing her HIV status without her consent and disclosing the results to third parties in July last year.

Justice Hellen Ong’udi directed Mediheal Group of Hospitals and Mediheal Hospital Eastleigh to pay the woman, code-named Rao, money for emotional and psychological distress as a result of the stigma she suffered as a result.

The judge increased the Sh900, 000 award given to the woman by the HIV and Aids Tribunal in November 2020.

Justice Ong’undi said the tribunal’s amount was too low and it had failed to consider that Ms Rao also lost her job.

The court dismissed a counterclaim by the hospital seeking damages from Ms Rao for bad publicity it claimed it suffered and an outstanding hospital bill of Sh33, 067.

In yet another labour dispute matter, the hospital was on the spot for unfairly terminating eight nurses over the disappearance of two patients who had pending bills.

The eight employees including five nurses and three nursing aids accused Mediheal Hospital management of unfair termination saying it was not their duty to guard discharged patients.

The labour officer Joel Omweno directed the hospital’s management to settle the matter within a week, failing to which legal action was to be taken.

“The eight employees reported the unfair termination and lack of the management’s willingness to pay their terminal dues.” Omweno said.

Omweno called upon the hospital management to settle the one-month pay in lieu of notice, any pending leave, unpaid days worked, any overtime worked and rest days.

Peril Cheruto, a nurse who was among the victims, said the patients who had been discharged disappeared at the facility on March 5 and 10 respectively.

“Nurses do not have an obligation to handle patients who have been discharged. The two disappeared during the day and having been mobile patients, they were not under our watch,” Cheruto said.

One patient, who had been involved in an accident and was treated at the facility, escaped without paying Sh85, 000. The other patient was in the private suite and was to pay Sh400, 000.

Despite Mediheal being a private hospital, it’s still under the control of the Ministry of Health guidelines in one way or the other and needs certification from MoH to operate or to confirm such claims like Mediheal just did.

The MediHeal Hospital has branches in Nairobi, Nakuru, Uganda and Rwanda.