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IMSS responds to Human Rights recommendations after woman loses both legs due to negligence

Querétaro, Mexico — The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) says that it is working to comply with the recommendation made by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) in the case of Vanessa Dib, whose legs were amputated due to negligence.

The young woman, who was 27 at the time of the 2018 incident, also lost her uterus and an ovary in an IMSS Querétaro hospital.

In a statement, the institution said that the Bipartite Commission for Attention to the Rightholder of the H. Technical Council investigated the case and determined the origin of the administrative complaint, for which it instructed the payment of compensation for material damage, “valued in terms of the applicable regulations”.

In addition, they pointed out that the resolution includes the adoption of preventive, corrective and disciplinary measures to guarantee that these events are not repeated. The IMSS announced that “the probable responsibilities of the public officials involved in the events” will be thoroughly investigated.

The recommendation of the CNDH, issued on June 17 and accepted by the institute on July 7, indicates that medical personnel from the Regional General Hospital number 1 (HGR-1) and the Family Medicine Unit number 9 (UMF- 9) in Querétaro, violated the rights to health protection, personal integrity, sexual and reproductive health, and harmed a 27-year-old woman for life due to inadequate diagnosis, treatment and medical follow-up.

For that reason, they recommended the payment of financial compensation as well as to provide the necessary medical, psychological and psychiatric care, provide her with prostheses and devices that allow her to move, give access to social programs that grant her development opportunities and scholarships for her two children, among other measures.

The young woman told the media that the IMSS had offered her 88,000 pesos to repair the damage: “They offer me 88,000 pesos to repair the damage. I ask the doctors if that’s what your legs are worth, I’ll gladly pay it so they can give me mine back.”

In this regard, the institute assured that “the economic compensation provided for in the comprehensive repair of the damage is independent of the amount that was determined at the time through the administrative complaint.”

Therefore, the Executive Commission for Attention to Victims, based on the integral standard established in the General Law of Victims, will determine the amount of the reparation that will be paid to Vanessa Dib.

“The Institute maintains contact with the beneficiary to inform her about the follow-up of her case, the actions that are being carried out in this regard and the procedure to access the economic amount determined by the administrative complaint,” the institution reported in their released statement.

Dib went to the hospital in 2018 to have an Intra Uterine Device (IUD) removed that was poorly placed, however, the doctors carried out an erroneous procedure which could have triggered a generalized infection and, consequently, the amputation of both legs, the removal of the uterus and an ovary.