Father claims doctors' negligence caused daughter's death

The father of a 32-year-old woman has filed a judicial protest against the Minister of Health, claiming that as a direct result of doctors' negligence at Mater Dei Hospital, his daughter had died of meningitis. Ritianne Muscat passed away on April 14, two days after she called at the hospital complaining of severe ear ache. Her father, Raymond Muscat, said his daughter was seen by a doctor, who then sent her home. Two days after, she was found dead in her apartment in St Paul's Bay. The cause of death was A1 meningitis. Mr Muscat said the doctors who had seen his daughter were guilty of gross negligence. Had they given her the proper attention and medication, she would not have died, he said in his protest. Mr Muscat said that despite having contacted the Health Ministry, he did not know what was being done about the case. He had however been given an appointment to meet the minister on June 25. He called for a magisterial inquiry to establish the way the doctors had handled the case. Dr Edward Gatt signed the protest.