MCKENZIE LAWSUIT ON Oct 10

ON OCTOBER 10, the lawsuit filed by the family of Ricardo “Smokey” Mc Kenzie will again be called before Justice Mira Dean-Armorer in the Port-of-Spain High Court. McKenzie’s wife Lisa Mc Kenzie is named as the claimant in a $20 million medical negligence lawsuit against Medcorp Limited and Cancer Centre of the Caribbean Limited, operators of the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre (BLCTC).

McKenzie’s died of a suspected deadly overdose of radiation to his brain. In their claim of medical negligence, lawyers for the Mc Kenzie family have alleged that Medcorp tried to cover up the fact that sensitive radiation machines were miscalibrated, exposing patients to a deadly dose instead of treatment.

They claim the medical facility is aware that its equipment, a linear accelerator, needed recalibrating and took no steps to correct the error although the effects could have resulted in fatal injuries. The medical facility has not accepted any blame for McKenzie’s death and disputes any negligence on its part, according to court documents. However, the company donated US$10,000 toward McKenzie’s foreign medical expenses, a month before his death. McKenzie, 55, the former co-owner of the popular St James bar — Smokey and Bunty Sports Bar — died on December 21, 2010, at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Lisa Ann McKenzie is seeking recovery of funds spent on her husband’s medical treatment amounting to almost $3 million and just over $16 million as loss of earnings, had he retired at the age of 65 from his business. He earned $138,333.33 per month.

McKenzie’s legal team includes Terrence Bharath, Andre LeBlanc and Vijai Deonarine while Medcorp’s attorneys are led by Neal Bisnath and include Ravi Nanga and Samson Wong. In McKenzie’s case, according to court documents, the patient first complained of headaches, seizures and vomiting in August 2009 and was subsequently referred to the BLCTC in September 2009 for radiation treatment after a tumour was detected and removed from his brain.

Between September and November 2009, McKenzie was under treatment at the Centre, but in April 2010, he collapsed and suddenly began having seizures. His condition worsened after he became partially paralysed and complained of “severe headaches.” Further medical tests revealed “a possibility of radiation necrosis” of the area where the tumour was removed.

McKenzie was taken to Jackson Memorial where on August 20, 2010 he underwent brain surgery to remove a mass of necrotic brain tissue. Two other surgeries followed but McKenzie’s condition continued to deteriorate, according to court documents, until his death on December 21, 2010.

In their defence Medcorp and the BLCTC maintained that at the time of Mc Kenzie’s third surgery in September 2010, where there was a suspicion of infection, he did not leave the country with any active infection. Also named as claimants are Mc Kenzie’s two daughters Ornella and Daniella.

Extracted From: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday Newspaper

By JADA LOUTOO Friday, May 17 2013