July 17 2007
Fled Africa Horror Only to Die From Medicine, $4.5 Million Awarded to Family
Clinic Didn't Notice Woman's bad Reaction to Drugs
CHICAGO, IL—Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer of the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, issued her ruling in the case of Kasongo v. U.S.A. Court No. 04 CV 4901 awarding $4.5 million in damages to the family of Jacqueline Makombe, deceased. The case was tried under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which does not allow for a trial by jury.
Mrs. Makombe became HIV positive after being gang-raped by the military in the Congo, Africa. Her husband rescued her from the military camp, and through great peril, brought her and their three children to the US where she received treatment for HIV/AIDS.
The family’s lawyers, SS&P attorney and David J. Pritchard of the law firm of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., alleged that the federally funded Chicago Health Outreach Clinic that treated Mrs. Makombe failed to properly diagnose lactic acidosis—a potentially lethal side effect of certain drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS. Mr. Pritchard and Mr. Muir argued that several weeks of complaints and symptoms went unrecognized by the Chicago Health Outreach Clinic and that earlier diagnosis would have allowed a change in the treatment regimen and complete recovery from the lactic acidosis.
"Mrs. Makombe survived rape, genocide, famine, refugee camps, and HIV/AIDS, only to die from medical negligence in a federal clinic,” said David Pritchard. “While the family was let down by the federal health care system, this verdict demonstrates that they were able to find justice under our federal legal system. For Mrs. Makombe’s husband (Mr. Kasongo), who has had to work two or more jobs to support his family since the death of his wife, this money will provide for a good home and strong future for his children.”
The federal government, represented by United States attorneys Gina Brock and Jack Donatelli, argued that the side effect of lactic acidosis was not yet known to the medical community, and that Mrs. Makombe had a reduced life expectancy because of her HIV/AIDS.
