Nigeria is a country where human lives have no value; where if you have no money or are not influential you can be denied medical treatment and care, and therefore may die. On daily basis people die as a result of this, or misdiagnosis without any consequence on the part of the medical practitioners. What you are about to read is a pathetic story of how one Mrs. Charity Iroka was allegedly denied medical treatment by medical Doctors at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) on the assumption that she had Lasa fever and she eventually died. Now, the family says those doctors on duty have blood in their hands and demands justice.
By Kingsley Abavo
By training, the primary responsibility of medical doctors ought to be humanitarian, to at all time save life first, but ironically in Nigeria, the reverse has often been the case as evidenced once again in the pathetic case of a 60- year old late Mrs. Charity Iroka.
At about 10.00 am on Friday January 29, 2016, following a referral from the doctor that last treated her medical condition, Dr. Mrs. Amiuwu of the Amiuwu Hospital, Benin, we arrived at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital [UBTH] Emergency room with Mrs. Iroka in a precarious health condition in a rented car.
In company of my in-law, Wilfred Ogie, I immediately rushed in to meet the doctors that were on duty, shouting; “please doctor help me, she is gasping for breath.”
But I was shocked to my bone marrow with their indifferent attitude to my plight as they chatted away pretending to be oblivious of my presence.
When I pressed on, they decided to subject me to series of probing questions; “where is the patient coming from? Where was she living? What is her medical history? etc.
This was even as they had in their hand, the medical history of late Mrs. Iroka and the referral as written by Dr. Mrs. Amiuwu.
Seemingly satisfied with my answers and explanation, they started pushing to one another the responsibility of who should handle her case until they finally resolved to send a para-medical staff to go get her temperature.
When the staff reported back that Mrs. Iroka’s temperature was 39.9, they just concluded without taking a step from where they stood: “we suspect Lasa Fever. Please take her to Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital. That is the only place where cases of Lasa fever are handled. “Nobody is ready to die,” one of them added.
Dazed and confused with the doctors’ instruction and indifferent attitude to the condition of the patient, for a moment I was transfused to where I stood.
I further made an effort to get the doctors to just do something by calling a medical doctor friend of mine to help prevail on his colleagues to at least do something that could sustain Mrs. Iroka’s life before getting to Irrua, a distance of about 60km away from Benin City.
But unfortunately, none of the doctors was prepared to answer the call so I pleaded to be given direction to how I could get an ambulance that would take Mrs. Iroka to Irrua but I was rebuffed.
Instead with stern face, I was told: “the more time you waste here, you are endangering the life of the woman.” Yet, they would not move even a step from where they stood to at least take a look at the patient who was gasping for breath in the cab parked at the entrance of the emergency section.
Faced with the option of the devil and the deep blue sea, I surrendered as it dawned on me at this point that I was not going to make anything positive with the doctors. And so, I handed over Mrs. Iroka’s life to God saying: “let His will be done and the woman eventually died during the journey to Irrua, very close to Iruekpen at about 1.00p.m.
But I still would not give up in the struggle to save her life hoping that some miracle could happen and she would come back to life. So I resolved that she must get to Irrua where she was later confirmed dead on arrival by the medical doctor on duty.
However this was after she had looked at Mrs. Iroka’s medical history and referral from Dr. Mrs. Amiuwu and wondered how the doctors at the UBTH suspected Lasa fever in the patient as there was no where it was indicated that she was previously diagnosed with the disease.
The experience of rushing her to the emergency room in a rented car without any form of life support, going through chains of traffic gridlocks and very bad roads between Benin and Irrua was nightmarish as well as frightening to say the least.
As I write my narration, it is an understatement that my heart is heavy and I am lost in thought as to what kind of country Nigeria is; one where the poor and common have no hope of survival when the chips are down; a place where everything works anti-clock wise except some-one decide to apply the sledge hammer.
Certainly, for a long time it will remain in my memory as another ugly incident telling the story of the many bad sides of the Nigeria nation, as it is my prayer that God grants Mrs. Iroka’s soul a peaceful rest in His bosom while I hand- over the doctors on duty at the emergency section on the fateful day to Him, for judgment.
From the U.S., Alltimepost.com on Wednesday April 20, 2016 called and spoke with the Chief Medical Director of UBTH, Prof Michael Ibhadin who said he knew nothing about the case, but promised to “find out tomorrow” (4/21/16) and that we should call back.
On Thursday April 28, another call was placed to him. This time around, Professor Ibhadin was very defensive and rude.
“I do not know every case in the hospital. How do you expect me to know about 600 cases in the hospital. Am I a magician? You can go ahead and write whatever you want to write, that is what you online media do.”
Professor Ibhadin did not confirm or deny the case. As we pressed further for answers the line got disconnected.
Alltimepost.com can authoritatively say that the professor’s response provided a lot of answers to why things do not work in Nigeria, why almost sixty years of nationhood and as a nation endowed with abundant natural and human resources, Nigeria cannot boast of good healthcare for the people; why it remains a country where several medical doctors of government-funded hospitals defraud the authorities with impunity by deserting their duty posts to work for themselves at their respective private hospitals while being paid by the public; why doctors at government hospitals demand money before they can even examine a dying patient; why there are no medications and required equipment at the hospitals and why several of such medical facilities remain in a state of squalor.
The reporter of this pathetic story, Kingsley Abavo is Alltimepost.com Correspondent in Nigeria and an In-law of late Mrs. Iroka. He was directly involved in seeking medical care for Mrs. Iroka.
If you believe in social justice and human rights, please reach out to the family and help to take this case up with the authorities in Nigeria.
And please, report cases of this nature to publisher@alltimepost.com wherever and whenever you find them. Remember, we are your voice you must not fail to use.
