Lawyers representing a group of parents, who have threatened legal action over the deaths of their babies at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (POSGH), have refused to enter settlement talks unless the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) accepts liability.
Attorneys from Freedom Law Chambers led by Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan, gave that response yesterday to correspondence sent by attorney Alana Bissessar of Pollonais, Blanc, de la Bastide and Jacelon, which has been retained to represent the NWRHA.
In the correspondence sent by Bissessar last Friday, they were invited to respond to settlement proposals.
Attorney Sue Ann Deosaran said, “We have spoken to all our clients, and they have adopted a common and unified position that justice is not a commodity that can be bought and sold, and they are not prepared to settle these matters on the basis that there is no admission of liability.
“No amount of money will bring back their babies, and the mothers feel that they owe it to the memory of their babies to seek justice with this higher purpose in mind.”
Deosaran also wondered if the proposed settlement would include a “gag order” preventing the families from publicly discussing their experiences.
“Otherwise, this would be tantamount to accepting hush money where the NWRHA has in effect bought them out by paying them off to remain silent,” she said.
Despite the position being advanced, Deosaran still asked Bissessar to clarify which of her 19 clients the NWRHA was willing to engage in settlement talks with.
While the NWRHA acknowledged that seven babies died of neonatal sepsis at the POSGH between April 4 and 7, the legal team has issued pre-action protocol letters on behalf of 12 other families who lost babies due to bacterial infections at the hospital outside that period. All except three of the babies died this year, with the others taking place in June and September 2022 and August, last year.
Other legal threats have been made about babies who died at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope and the San Fernando General Hospital.
Deosaran said she could not properly advise her clients on potential settlements without expert medical reports.
In her original correspondence, Bissessar questioned the families’ insistence on retaining foreign medical experts after her client declined to finance the same.
Bissessar suggested that the course of action was premature as the NWRHA’s internal investigation and an independent investigation by a three-member team from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) had not been completed.
“To say that your advice is premature is an understatement, and having regard to the years of experience your chambers collectively possess in medical negligence matters, we can only arrive at the conclusion that your advice is not designed to seek the legitimate interests of your clients, but rather to gain media attention and to politicise these unfortunate deaths,” Bissessar said.
She quoted the Code of Ethics under the Legal Profession Act, which prohibits advertising to attract clients.
Bissessar also suggested that there would be no difficulty in finding local medical experts to testify in the potential cases. She also suggested that it was highly irresponsible to allow the clients to make public appeals for assistance with funding for foreign medical experts.
“Placing your clients in such a position at a time when it is wholly premature and unnecessary would no doubt adversely affect your client’s psychological and emotional well-being, rather than our client’s refusal to fund such a premature request and exercise,” she said.
Bissessar encouraged the families’ legal team to engage in settlement talks to avoid litigation but noted that her law firm could not respond to claims made about other facilities operated by the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) and the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA).
Dealing specifically with two cases from 2022 and December cited in previous correspondence from Deosaran, Bissessar explained why no internal report was given to those parents.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no need to carry out an investigation every time a neonate or person dies once the death is consistent with their medical condition,” she said.
In her response, Deosaran took aim at the criticism of the public pleas for assistance. Noting that her clients were of limited means and that an expert report was essential for a medical negligence lawsuit, she said, “This disingenuous attempt to flip the script and blame and condemn our clients for the decision to seek the public’s assistance in the quest for justice reeks of arrogance and elitism.”
Deosaran described the NWRHA’s stance as cruel and inhumane and referred to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request pursued by her chambers for a social activist which revealed that the authority spent $26,220,351.13 on legal fees over the past eight years to defend medical negligence claims.
“It should be noted that if there is no negligence on the part of the NWRHA, it should have nothing to fear or worry about. Indeed, it may be vindicated,” she said.
Deosaran said her clients’ attempt to retain the services of foreign experts was based on her law firm’s experience in finding local experts willing to testify against their current or former colleagues.
“This is a niche area that requires a particular type of experience and expertise and we repeat: None of the local doctors that we have contacted have been willing to assist,” she said.
Referring to Bissessar’s allegations against her law firm about “advertising”, Deosaran said her client held numerous press conferences and issued press releases based on responses provided by Bissessar’s law firm.
“Our clients will therefore not be muzzled whilst the NWRHA tries to spin a self-serving narrative to avoid confronting the harsh and raw realities in the POSGH,” she said.