A judge in Murang'a has ordered a top university hospital to pay Sh4.3 million in damages as compensation to a woman who conceived after a long-term contraceptive implant failed.
Justice Hatari Waweru, directed Aga Khan University Hospital family
planning clinic to pay the woman the amount, which would
go towards the general upkeep of the unplanned child.
The woman will further be paid Sh500,000 for pain and loss of her comfort.
“Doing the best that I can with the material before the court I will
award Sh20,000 per month for 18 years. In arriving at this figure, I
have taken into account that the cost of living will probably keep
rising as the years go by.“There will be a stiff rise in expenses for the child when she gets
to secondary school and hopefully to university,” The judge said.
The woman told the court that on July 4 2011 she consulted Aga Khan
University Hospital’s family planning clinic for a contraceptive as she
did not want to have more children since she and her husband were
already struggling to bring up their two children.
She was advised that an implant known as Implanon would be the most
suitable for her and would prevent her from conceiving for a period of
three years. In August 2012, she tested positive for a pregnancy test.
“She visited the hospital on August 10, 2012 where a further test confirmed she was indeed pregnant.
“Other tests by the hospital staff confirmed that no Implanon had
been implanted after all. This resulted in the delivery of her third
child on March 26, 2013,” said the plaintiff.