Beale allegedly ignored recommendations from colleague after procedure on boy who later died, court told

JOHANNESBURG - The Joburg High Court has heard how murder-accused paediatric surgeon Peter Beale allegedly ignored recommendations from a colleague after operating on a boy who later died from sepsis in his abdomen.

Beale is now on trial over the child’s death and two others he operated on.

The State has accused him of reckless conduct and of performing unnecessary surgeries to claw back money he lost in a failed investment.

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A paediatrician who treated the boy in question after he went into distress following his surgery is currently testifying.

On Thursday, the witness told the court that as early as the day after the surgery she raised concerns with Beale that there could be “something else going on in the abdomen”.

But she said this was met with “so much pushback” and that at no point over the four days the child spent in hospital, was Beale willing to consider as much.

She said he should have taken her seriously but that he “absolutely refused” to entertain the idea that there was any pathology or complication in the abdomen”.

The case continues.