The Miyazaki District Court ordered the government Monday to pay some 51 million yen in damages to the parents of a 5-year-old girl who died in 1991 due to malpractice at the state-run Miyazaki Medical University Hospital.
The girl, from Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture, underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor at the hospital on Aug. 9, 1991, but had a seizure the following day and died a month later.
The parents alleged that the girl's death was due to negligence on the part of medical staff, who should have given her appropriate postoperative treatment.
The parents claimed that continued administration of sodium to the girl even after she exhibited symptoms of hepernatremia caused her to have repeated seizures and eventually led to brain death.
Judge Akihiro Nakayama recognized the causal relation between the girl's death and negligence, citing the lack of examination of the girl's condition.