Photos: LUTH doctors accused of causing the death of woman in Lagos
According to him, the physician diagnosed and treated his late wife of ulcer but the autopsy showed that she died of Asphyxia which is the loss of consciousness due to the body’s inability to deliver oxygen to its tissues.
Narrating
how his wife got to LUTH, 56 years old Ausbet said himself and his
family members had gone to St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in Yaba, Lagos
to celebrate Good Friday mass and when they returned, his daughter
called him that their mother had severe stomach pain.
“We
rushed her to LUTH around 9pm with my wife writhing in pains. She
underwent some tests/scan and the results were ready before 7am the
following day.”
He said he took the results to the doctors and was asked to wait until they were ready for ward rounds.
Narrating
further, Ausbet said“After about 90 minutes, a doctor finally turned
up, checked her and said the scan revealed some trace of ulcer. The
doctor prescribed Gascol and an injection which were not available at
LUTH. I bought the prescribed drugs. Still, there was no relief. The
doctor then prescribed another brand of injection called IV NEXIUM.
Again, I bought it.”
He
alleged that the emergency unit where his wife and mother of his four
children was kept had no light, fan and good ventilation. According to
him, he had to use his phone flashlight to assist the doctor in finding
his wife’s vein, adding that he fanned her because she was sweating
profusely and had difficulty breathing because of the stuffy room.
“My
wife was moved to the female ward later where I was told that no
patient relation was allowed to stay. Even her younger sister
volunteered to stay and help her out in case of any need but the nurses
refused, saying it was against the hospital’s policy. During this time,
my wife’s condition deteriorated to the extent of needing oxygen. I
bought an oxygen mask to help her breathe. In her weak state, my wife
pleaded with the nurses to permit me or her younger sister to be with
her through the night, but her plea was equally turned down. ‘Daddy,
don’t go’ was the last words I heard her say. I felt dejected as I was
forced out of the ward around 11pm.”
Udebu said he got to the hospital the following day around 6am with his eldest daughter, only to be told of his wife's passing.
“The
curtain over her bed was already drawn. Immediately I suspected
something eerie. I did not want to believe my wife and mother of my four
children was no more. I was told my wife died in the early hours of
that morning. Nobody contacted the family when she passed on. Everything
about LUTH is wrong. A ward with more than 35 patients with only two
nurses available to attend to them. It was later I learnt any patient
who registered in any of the doctors’ private clinics will have an army
of doctors attending to him/her because he/she has paid in the doctor’s
private clinic.”
A
relative of the deceased, Quincy Opara, who also spoke on the incident
said "The doctor concluded that her death was caused by ulcer even
before an autopsy was carried out. The result of the autopsy came out,
to the surprise of everybody, it stated that she died of asphyxia. What
is the relationship between asphyxia and ulcer which was the doctor’s
‘diagnosis’? This is shameful and above all disgraceful for Nigeria’s
prime health institution. The nurse on duty when confronted that they
may not have known when she passed on said that she passed on at 3am.
She claimed that they battled to save her life.”
When
contacted, spokesperson of the hospital, Kelechi Otuneme said he was
aware of the incident but however cannot speak on it.
“I cannot say anything; management is looking into the matter”, he said.
Meanwhile the corpse of the deceased has been deposited at a morgue in Delta state.
Source: The Nation
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