Family still in the dark after funeral halted for post-mortem
Poonsamy (Dino) Naicker
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A WEEK after grieving loved ones were forced to pause the funeral for a post-mortem, the family is still waiting for answers.
Poonsamy (Dino) Naicker, 53, died at St Augustine's Hospital in Durban on August 4. Two days later, whilst in the midst of paying their final respects, the family were requested to send his body back to the hospital for a post-mortem to be undertaken.
A day before the funeral, a nursing sister informed the family that two doctors had signed off on the cause of death as natural, but a third doctor contested it, claiming it was unnatural.
Naicker had been in hospital for about seven weeks. He was first admitted to hospital for a procedure to treat a wound on his foot.
His brother, Gringo Naicker, said that even a week after the post-mortem, the family has yet to receive the results.
"We have not been contacted by anyone with regard to the post-mortem result to know the cause of death," said Naicker.
Heinrich Venter, St Augustine’s Hospital general manager, said the post-mortem was conducted independently by the state forensic laboratory.
"Final reports are only issued once all tests are completed. The hospital does not have access to these findings and is therefore not in a position to comment on the cause of death. The South African Police Service and the National Prosecuting Authority are the relevant authorities to approach for this information," said Venter.
Venter said the hospital does not at present have any specific microbial concerns.
"Robust antibiotic stewardship programmes are maintained at all Netcare facilities as part of international healthcare efforts to address the global problem of microbial resistance," said Venter.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal referred the Sunday Tribune to the South African Police Services in KZN, who did not provide information at the time of publication.