Published: August 28, 2025
MONROVIA — The John F. Kennedy Medical Center (JFK), Liberia’s largest public hospital, is facing a $25 million lawsuit after being accused of medical malpractice and gross negligence that allegedly caused the deaths of 26-year-old Lovette Tamba and her unborn child.
The lawsuit, filed at the Sixth Judicial Circuit Civil Law Court before Judge J. Kennedy Peabody, stems from a 19-count complaint by the family of Tamba, who claim the hospital and its staff failed to provide timely and adequate medical care, leading to her death and the loss of her 26-week pregnancy.
The plaintiff, represented by Tamba’s four-year-old son Destiny O. Kerkula through his grandmother and legal guardian, is demanding not less than $25 million in damages. The claim includes $7 million in special damages and $10 million in general damages against JFK management, along with $3 million in special damages and $5 million in general damages against Dr. Gonkernue Nuahn, a physician at the hospital. The petition argues that JFK, as an autonomous corporate body, is responsible for the actions of its staff and can “sue and be sued.”
According to court filings, Tamba died after suffering complications from a retained placenta, intrauterine fetal death, and massive blood loss, which doctors allegedly failed to manage in time. The family contends that there was an eight-hour delay in medical intervention, which contributed to disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC), a severe blood-clotting disorder. The petition further alleges that anesthetic complications during treatment precipitated cardiac arrest. The family said a board report had already found JFK management and staff liable for negligence and malpractice in the case.
The complaint also details failed efforts to resolve the matter outside of court. The family, represented by AFDASA Global law firm, claimed it invited JFK management to four settlement conferences. According to the filing, the hospital ignored two of the invitations and at the other two sent “low-level officials with no authority to decide.” The plaintiff described the move as a tactic to delay justice, adding that management later cut off all communication entirely.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of being “negligent, callous, and grossly abusive of their duty,” saying they failed a young woman with “a bright future” who entrusted them with her life. “The lives of Lovette Tamba and her fetus were suddenly cut short, turning the joy and hope of their family into grief,” the filing states. “Little Destiny O. Kerkula has been deliberately orphaned, left without a mother’s love and guidance, and denied the joy of becoming a sibling.”
The complaint further alleges that Dr. Nuahn, in an effort to suppress the scandal, threatened and dismissed other medical practitioners suspected of having firsthand knowledge of the incident.
The lawsuit asks the court to hold JFK management and Dr. Nuahn liable for wrongful death, medical malpractice, and psychological trauma suffered by the child and his family. “No amount of money can compensate for the irreparable loss,” the complaint notes, “but given the deliberate negligence and the lifelong trauma suffered by the plaintiff, damages are being sought as the only available measure of accountability.”
The case is pending before Judge Peabody at the Temple of Justice in Monrovia.
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