Freedom of Speech ruling from radiation case.

[sMASH]

https://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/lo ... -2T3BYpcbQ

Judge rules for attorney claiming radiation overdose

Rickie Ramdass Feb 18, 2019



FREEDOM of speech is a fundamental pillar of a democratic society and individuals should not be prevented from making statements, which may be true, regarding matters of important interest to the public, says High Court judge Justice Frank Seepersad.

Those individuals should only be restrained where it is pellucid that the statements being complained of are unarguably defamatory and issued in circumstances which indicate that they were made without legal justification, he said.

The judge made the statement Monday at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain as he delivered a ruling in favour of an attorney who claimed she was exposed to increased levels of radiation at the medical institution in south Trinidad.

The institution, Southern Medical Clinic Ltd, and its director Rupert Indar, Snr, has since initiated legal proceedings against the woman, Cherry Ann Rajkumar, for defamation by making “false” claims on social media.

According to court documents, in June of last year, Rajkumar went to the institution to have a CT scan conducted. Within hours of the scan being carried out, she began experiencing medical issues attributable to radiation exposure.

Some of the symptoms experienced by her was burns to her face and lips. Her eyes were also bloodshot and her hair began to fall. Rajkumar requested the logs of the CT scan machine in order for her doctors to determine the ex­act lev­el of the ra­di­a­tion she was ex­posed to so they could ad­min­is­ter the ap­pro­pri­ate treat­ment.

However, so far her request has not been fulfilled.

It was after the information was not forthcoming that Rajkumar took to social media to express her displeasure with what had transpired and the institution’s lack of response to the requests.

She had also picketed in front the law office of attorney Romney Thomas, who is also one of the company’s directors.

Last week, High Court judge Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell, granted an interim injunction to the company, preventing Rajkumar from repeating or reposting her statements until the matter came back up for hearing before Justice Seepersad yesterday.
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But following submissions from attorneys, Justice Seepersad said he believed the injunction should not be extended.

“At this stage, this court cannot and will not continue the interim injunction granted against the defendant in relation to these claimants. The statement of case reveals that there are important public interest issues in this matter that should be resolved with a degree of urgency as the public at large should feel no sense of disquiet or discomfort if the services of these claimants have to be engaged.

“The court also finds it difficult, at this stage, to understand the hesitancy with respect to the information sought relative to the equipment and there may exist an unfettered right by all patients at medical institutions, whether public or private, to be provided with all information to the treatment which was afforded to them,” he said.

The judge pointed out that the issues raised in the documentation before the court were significant and touch matters which are of significant public interest.

“If there is a modicum of truth behind the defendant’s assertions, then the status and functionality if the first claimant’s equipment is critical as the resultant negative impact on the health of citizens cannot be disregarded. Economic fallout for any commercial entity can never take precedent over the health and welfare of citizens,” he said.

Rajkumar was given until Thursday to file her defence in the lawsuit and the matter will next come up for hearing on February 27.

big boon for smaller people trying to get justice from the big sawatee.

[paid_influencer]

big boon for smaller people trying to get justice from the big sawatee.

the small person just make a facebook post. it was the big sawatee who decide to bring lawyers into it.

plan backfire

[toyota2nr]

So they overdosed her with radiation and then refused to help or even answer her when she developed symptoms and then attempted to sue her when she went public? The public really needs protection from the medical fraternity. The scary part is that this could happen to any one of us if we seek medical help.

[The_Honourable]

And the sando mayor just name the street in front southern medical after the founder & director.

I saw the family making out Romney Thomas last week in front his law practice in San Fernando. The directors of the institution don't want to release the CT scan logs to prove her case.

[VexXx Dogg]

And the sando mayor just name the street in front southern medical after the founder & director.

I saw the family making out Romney Thomas last week in front his law practice in San Fernando. The directors of the institution don't want to release the CT scan logs to prove her case.

Logs can mysteriously vanish, with the appropriate scapegoat sacrificed.

[Redman]

And the sando mayor just name the street in front southern medical after the founder & director.

I saw the family making out Romney Thomas last week in front his law practice in San Fernando. The directors of the institution don't want to release the CT scan logs to prove her case.

Well its obvious what the deal is.

Where is the Ministry of Health AND the Medical Board in all of this.

How many people were over exposed?

[Dizzy28]

A very interesting ruling indeed.

[Slartibartfast]

Thought it was just someone complaining about make believe symptoms after perusing webMD. But burns to the face and hair falling out?! Nah, that is madness. Anyone have links to the social media post?

[Dizzy28]

Just checking back and Justice Seepersad was the one who ruled social media posts can be considered defamatory. He is leading the way in defining the new paradigm by which we communicate.
http://www.looptt.com/content/judge-you ... nces-court

[shogun]

Threat to the greater public, coupled with compelling evidence of symptoms that don't sound somatic and can't easily be brushed aside/ignored. Judge had no choice but to rule how he did.

[The_Honourable]

Thought it was just someone complaining about make believe symptoms after perusing webMD. But burns to the face and hair falling out?! Nah, that is madness. Anyone have links to the social media post?

This was what started it off 2 months ago: https://tt-talk.com/raditaion-poisoning/


Radiation Poisoning at South Hospital

A prominent San Fernando attorney is slowly on her way to recovery after she was told that she was given potentially fatal radiation overdose.

The Lawyer, who we will call “Ann”, received a overdose of the deadly radiation during a routine visit at the renowned San Fernando Hospital located in Lower High Street, San Fernando.

The blunders which are still being denied by the San Fernando based hospital almost proved fatal, as the attorney explained. Ann’s skin has turned red, she has sores on her head and neck and has to take cold showers to cool down.

Ann said that this ordeal all began when she visited the hospital in June 2018, after she was recommended by her family physician for headaches to the left side of her head, that she had been getting in the previous month. Staff at the hospital administered the C.T. Scan, without the recommended contrast “dye”, as is normally used for procedures as such as this, however before the procedure, Ann requested that the doctor in charge of the Radiation department speak to her about this but was told that he was not available and instead was assured by the X-Ray technician that this is normal and that she would just feel a bit weak for two (2) to three (3) days following the procedure, as this is customary for routine procedures such as this.

What happened next, was Ann’s worse nightmare.

Two hours after returning home, Ann said that she started getting;

Severe Headaches
Numbness in the Face
Bloodshot Eyes
Throbbing in the Side of the Head
Swollen Throat, Tonsils and Tongue
Involuntary Jerking of the Legs
Difficulty Breathing

That night, Ann advised that her eyes were bloodshot, and felt swollen from the inside.

The following day, the skin from Ann’s lips began peeling in a similar fashion indicative of C.T. Scan burns.


Damage from CT Scan Radiation Poisoning

With no end in sight, Ann and her spouse returned to the Medical Facility, and inquired as to these new symptoms, only to be left with more questions than answers which lead her to get a second opinion. The extent of her radiation poisoning didn’t become apparent until Ann visited another doctor only to be told that she has to “Make Her Way to the USA, where they can handle Radiation Burns.”

A panicked Ann relates to TT Talk that she packed her bags, and less than eleven (11) days after her procedure, was sitting in the waiting room of a US hospital alone, as she was only able to pay for one ticket, seeking a confirmation for what she had already suspected. The physical indicators described by the US doctor for Radiation poisoning was confirmed by her personal physician.

With all the evidence in hand, together with SIXTY (60) zip lock bags of her hair that started to fall out when this ordeal began, Ann visited the San Fernando Private Hospital where she had gotten the CT Scan, only to be advised that no information can be given out as to the radiation settings of the Simens CT Scan device that had been used at the Hospital.


ONE of the Ziploc Bags Filled with Hair. “Ann” has SIXTY

Strangely, was the fact that Ann received a phone call from the Owner of the San Fernando Private Hospital, only to be insulted and was told that she “has to check her eyes”.

Since then, Ann has been trying to get an audience with Minister of Health, Terrence Deyalsingh, however has had no luck thus far.

According to the “Private Hospitals Act” – “The Minister of Health has a responsibility to revoke the license of the private hospital when any member of the public is injured.” However the facility may still be operating and using this defective, or mis-calibrated equipment risking injuries or the lives of other persons.

TT Talk, did in fact reach out to the Private Hospital, but was told that there was no one available to confirm or deny the status of Ann’s complaint. However, we were able to confirm that the CT Scan Device used, was over 10 years old, and has NOT been serviced or calibrated in the recent months.

With no information forthcoming, Ann stated that she is now left with no other option than to face the hospital on her own battleground, the Court Room.

[Kenjo]

It either the machine malfunctioned and they just delaying to give her the report or the machine didn’t malfunction and she is a genius and going to be a very prominent lawyer even if they provide her with a report showing the machine didn’t malfunction . Win win for her .

[Slartibartfast]

Thought it was just someone complaining about make believe symptoms after perusing webMD. But burns to the face and hair falling out?! Nah, that is madness. Anyone have links to the social media post?

This was what started it off 2 months ago: https://tt-talk.com/raditaion-poisoning/

Geezanages!!!! That is madness!

[paid_influencer]

this cases raises an interesting question. who is more likely to lie, a doctor or a lawyer?

[ismithx]

this cases raises an interesting question. who is more likely to lie, a doctor or a lawyer?

yes

[The_Honourable]

Ailing lawyer claims radiation poisoning


Cherry-Ann Rajkumar and her husband Marvin Ramnarine protest along Independence Avenue, San Fernando, yesterday.

An at­tor­ney is claim­ing she suf­fered ra­di­a­tion poi­son­ing at a pop­u­lar pri­vate nurs­ing home in San Fer­nan­do af­ter un­der­go­ing a CT scan.

Cher­ry-Ann Ra­jku­mar, 42, ac­com­pa­nied by her hus­band Mar­vin Ram­nar­ine held a sec­ond protest in three days call­ing for the nurs­ing home, which has not ac­cept­ed li­a­bil­i­ty, to re­lease the ma­chine’s logs.

Ra­jku­mar said the logs will as­sist her doc­tors in de­ter­min­ing the ex­act lev­el of the ra­di­a­tion she was ex­posed to so they could ad­min­is­ter the ap­pro­pri­ate treat­ment.

Last Fri­day, she protest­ed in front of the nurs­ing home and yes­ter­day she protest­ed in front of a com­mer­cial build­ing at In­de­pen­dence Av­enue, San Fer­nan­do.

Ra­jku­mar said she went to that par­tic­u­lar pri­vate nurs­ing home to have the CT scan done be­cause it was ad­ver­tised as the best med­ical clin­ic with on­ly brand new ma­chines.

“Just with­in two hours of do­ing the X-ray there on Mon­day June 11, 2018, I al­most went in­to a co­ma. My whole face burn up. My lips burn up. My hair, if you come home by me I have more than 100 bags of hair that dropped from my head. My eyes were blood­shot like Count Drac­u­la. My whole body start­ed to jerk and weak­ness like I was dy­ing, like al­most in a co­ma. I al­most died. I was in con­stant pain. It is on­ly like right now the pain is much less. But imag­ine be­ing in pain like if they dip your head in boil­ing wa­ter for eight months. I have not been able to work, mind my child, eat. It is ter­ri­ble. I am lucky to be alive be­cause the amount that I got in the head blast was more than Smokey and Bun­ty. So I am a walk­ing mir­a­cle, “ she lament­ed.

Ra­jku­mar said last week was the first time in eight months she had enough strength to walk.

She said, “Imag­ine all this hap­pen from a nor­mal X-ray and this could hap­pen to any­body in this coun­try.”

She said the nurs­ing home is in­sist­ing that the ma­chine was brand new. How­ev­er, she said a physi­cist from New Zealand was able to find out that the ma­chine which the nurs­ing home ad­ver­tised as brand new was ac­tu­al­ly 10 to 12 years old.

She was ad­vised that a ma­chine that age was sup­posed to be dis­card­ed and not used on hu­man be­ings. “What my doc­tors know is that I got be­yond two grays of po­si­tion ra­di­a­tion be­cause they told me that hair dam­age on­ly be­gins at above two grays. I re­al­ly sup­pose to get a frac­tion of a gray for a head CT scan,” she said.

Ra­jku­mar said she does not have the mon­ey to ini­ti­ate le­gal ac­tion and her fo­cus at this time is get­ting bet­ter.

In a three page re­port, which was for­ward­ed to T&T Guardian Dr David Evans, a med­ical physi­cist, stat­ed that he and a ra­di­a­tion on­col­o­gist as­sessed Ra­jku­mar and came to the con­clu­sion that she was ex­posed to ra­di­a­tion over­dose.

Ra­jku­mar com­plained that in the past eight months she has writ­ten sev­er­al let­ters to the nurs­ing home’s own­ers and to Health Min­is­ter Ter­rance Deyals­ingh, but noth­ing has been done.

Source: https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/ailing- ... 10dfd6f611

[paid_influencer]

as an aside, anyone know how much a sign like that costs?

the only good outcome for all sides is if the private nursing home hands over the CT scan machine logs.

[pugboy]

So a person get treatment and right after start getting severe problems
And the medical institution tried to muzzle her ?
Is this correct ?

[ProtonPowder]

it very much seems so

[Kenjo]

So a person get treatment and right after start getting severe problems
And the medical institution tried to muzzle her ?
Is this correct ?

Yup she got a CT scan without contrast according to her report and got sick and the simplest thing may have been just to have asked the private nursing home for her CT on a CD digitally which would automatically have the radiation dose on it. Some reason if the private facility was going to alter the CT logs I assume they could have done it sooner rather than later or just come out and say it lost . There is medical protection insurance for that if they are wrong and the whole public scene would have been saved and luckily no other patients seemed to have come out with similar symptoms

[Redman]

I hope she takes them to the cleaners.

Something is off IMHO with her approach

[timelapse]

Just putting this here

Trinidad and Tobago: The head of the Public Services Association (PSA) Watson Duke has been charged with raping one of the organisation’s employees at a hotel a week ago, after allegedly indecently assaulting her on four previous occasions.

But he is adamant that he is innocent and says he has no intentions of resigning from his position as president of the PSA.
PSA President Watson Duke is accused of four counts of indecent assault and one of rape.
PSA President Watson Duke is accused of four counts of indecent assault and one of rape.

Duke appeared in court yesterday and was granted TT$250,000 (US$37,537) bail, on charges that he committed acts of serious indecency against the woman on four occasions between January and last month at the union’s headquarters; and having sexual intercourse with the woman against her will, last Tuesday in a room at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain.

He was not required to plead to the indictable offences, but he told the media after appearing before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar that he was innocent.

“I didn’t commit the act and I’m sure with time that will be proven,” he said, adding that he felt no embarrassment because he was not guilty. “I feel very normal, like Watson Duke.”

Duke had been in custody for four days, after turning himself into police custody last Thursday when he learned he was being sought for questioning.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Duke said he was under no obligation, under the PSA’s constitution, to resign from his position.

The PSA’s first vice-president Christopher Joefield, who attended the hearing, told reporters outside the court that the executive of the union “stands firmly” behind Duke in the matter.

“We would see where things stand after the process is concluded,” he said. “In the meantime, we will continue to ensure the strategic direction of the PSA does not get railroaded.”

He also assured that the alleged victim would be sent to another “more comfortable” location – one of the other four PSA offices in the country.

“The PSA plans to ensure that her rights are not violated in any way. We are also an employer and will be treating with the issue with a degree of objectivity,” Joefield said.

As a condition of his bail release, Duke has been ordered to stay at least 500 metres away from his accuser, and refrain from having any contact with her.

Meantime, a female attorney has gone to the media complaining that she was incorrectly identified as the alleged victim in the case against Duke.

Cherry Ann Rajkumar said her photo has been posted on social media, and she has become a victim of character assassination.

She said she has reported the matter to police. (Caribbean360.com)

[Dizzy28]

I hope she takes them to the cleaners.

Something is off IMHO with her approach

My sister in law worked with Cherry Ann a few years ago in a PoS law firm. She said she was highly eccentric to the point people were questioning her sanity. She actually only recently reapplied for her practicing certificate so she was also not a lawyer for a while as well.

Doesn't affect the stinkness of Southern Medical thus far in this case.

[teems1]

A patient should always have the right to information on any medical procedure done to them. In this case the radiation exposure from the CT machine should fall under that category.

[VexXx Dogg]

What does the alleged rape case have to do with alleged malpractice?
You're correlating based on what?

[timelapse]

What does the alleged rape case have to do with alleged malpractice?
You're correlating based on what?

This ain't her first rodeo

[hydroep]

Ent someone won a lawsuit against the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Center for radiation overdose as well?

To think yuh paying big money for supposedly "better" treatment in these Private Institutions buh in reality is kill they killing you faster yes...

[Dizzy28]

Ent someone won a lawsuit against the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Center for radiation overdose as well?

To think yuh paying big money for supposedly "better" treatment in these Private Institutions buh in reality is kill they killing you faster yes...

The wife of one of the former co owners of Smoky and Bunty won the case against the BLCTC.

[Redman]

What does the alleged rape case have to do with alleged malpractice?
You're correlating based on what?

Vexx-
I cant validate her claim OR her history.

That said....in This here Trinidad and Tobago.
In 2019.

A lawyer gets over radiated-gets external proof of same...and comes back to LEAD with a 2 person protest on social media???

Any ANY ANY lawyer taking this case pro bono.

This is money in the bank and the chicks for free

[sMASH]

They needed the documents, wasn't getting it. It's not respectable procedure but it led to a ruling, and public shaming to 'convince' the medical facility to get the info to them.


If true, I want this situation sorted, so that no other person is irradiated.


If the claims are false, the the courts can show it up and thd medical facility be exonerated, and they get monies.



Just because she mad, doesn't mean she wrong.