Agony Of A Couple   

Published on May 24, 2010 by fari   ·   No Comments

A Caesarean Section to deliver Mrs. Rose Oji of her second child ends in disaster. By OLUSOLA OLAOSEBIKAN

Mrs. Rosemary Sunday Oji never doubted the reliability of the doctors at the Apapa Comprehensive Health Centre in Lagos. Even during medical emergencies, she preferred to travel the long distance from her residence at 15, Olutimilehin Street, Ejigbo, to the hospital. Her trust in the services of the hospital was so strong that she chose to give birth to her first child there, via Caesarean Section, on 31 May, 2005.

When she became pregnant the second time, the hospital was her choice. Thus, she began attending ante-natal sessions at the hospital on 26 February, 2008. Intermittently, she was asked to undergo ultra-sound scan. During one of such check-ups, she was advised by the doctors to deliver her baby through Caesarean Section, especially since her first child was born through the same procedure. Mrs. Oji was not comfortable with the advice, but had to heed it out of fear that something bad may happen if she did not.

According to her, the resolution to undergo surgery was to protect her child. The decision, however, proved costly. When she was due to deliver her baby on 15 July, 2008, the doctors strained to remove the child. During the process, the back of his head was allegedly negligently slashed, leaving a gash. The surgical team, headed by Dr. A. Idowu, Head of the Obstetrics and Gynecology department of the hospital, included Dr. Awosika, Dr. Tijani and Dr. Sanusi.

Apparently bothered by the surgical error, Dr. Idowu, Mrs. Oji claimed, confided in her that the baby had a slight cut on the back of its head, but would have been healed of it before their discharge from the hospital.

Mrs. Oji alleged that she was not allowed to see her child until her discharge from the hospital on 20 July, 2008.

After the christening ceremony, the Ojis decided it was time to remove the plaster on the wound because the child cried incessantly. What they discovered was not a slight cut, but a deep gash, which prompted him to return to the hospital.

At the hospital, the baby, named Samuel, and his mother were readmitted for another six weeks, during which she averred that she was poorly attended to. Thereafter, they were referred to Massey Children Hospital in Lagos. But the management of Massey Hospital claimed they do not treat wounds, so they were referred to the Lagos Island General Hospital, where they spent three weeks before being discharged.

While this was going on, Mrs. Oji noticed that her child’s legs, neck and hand were no longer moving. She was terrified. She then took the matter to the Office of the Public Defender, an agency of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice. The agency took over the matter and a letter, demanding investigation into the alleged negligence, was promptly written to the Ministry of Health.

To ascertain the culpability of Apapa Comprehensive Health Centre, an electroencephalogram (EEG) test was conducted on Samuel. The test, done at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, on 5 April 2009, showed that Samuel has a seizure disorder that is capable of delaying the maturation of his brain. The result of the test was then given to Dr. M.A. Salisu, a consultant pediatrician at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, for further investigation.

But Dr. Salisu, Mrs. Oji believes, has deliberately refused to act on the result of the test. She reckons that the pediatrician is acting out a script, in consonance with the Ministry of Health, to suppress the evidence. Dr. Salisu, however, denies this allegation. In an e-mail sent to Bolaji Adejumo, counsel to Mrs. Oji, on 14 April, 2010, Dr. Salisu blamed Mrs. Oji for her predicament.

“I decided to refer her back to the usual clinic booking, promising to hand over her file to the same doctor to send back to the hospital records. This was done the same day. I felt she now viewed me as part of, rather than a solution to her difficulties,” Dr. Salisu said.

Dr. Salisu added that he was upset by the way Mrs. Oji went about the matter. But Mrs. Oji would have none of it. Already, she has instructed her lawyers to institute a case of negligence against Apapa Comprehensive Health Centre and the Lagos State Ministry of Health. She is also asking for a N500 million compensation.

When asked to explain what led to Samuel’s ordeal, Mrs. E.O.O. Ademoye, head of the Administrative Department of the Health Centre, claimed not to be aware of the matter. “I was not in this hospital then,” she told this magazine.