From Paul Ibe, Enugu
There is an urgent need to seriously review the practice of medical doctors within government employment or public service owning and operating private clinics. This story is just one out of the very many cases of negligence and greed told about doctors in Nigeria. Beyond wrong diagnosis and careless conclusions, their divided attention between delivering quality healthcare to patients at state owned facilities and driving traffic to their private hospital seems to be the biggest setback to developing healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
Senator Jim Nwobodo, a former minister of sports and former governor of old Anambra state has blamed the sudden death of his late eldest son, Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, who passed on last friday, on negligence of a Nigeria doctor.
Sen. Nwobodo stated that his son was already cured at Anderson Medical Cancer Centre in Huston, Texas USA and was asked to stay longer in USA but that he returned home because of his family. He complained of pains on the legs which took him to a consultant oncologist with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Enugu.
He was speaking when the Abia state governor, Theodore Orji paid a him a condolence visit in Enugu.
The former governor disclosed that instead of taking him to the teaching hospital where there are facilities for emergency, the consultant rather referred his son to his private clinic where the doctor administered the deceased with an injection that in no distant moment led to his demise.
The doctor, on discovery of the complication of the drug tried to rush his son to Niger foundation hospital where he died even before getting there.
Hear Nwobodo: “My son was five months sick before I knew about it and was planning to go to India before we took him to USA.
“I called him again and when I didn’t hear from him I sent him text and I asked the doctor to tell me why he gave my son an injection that made him unconscious, he said he was sorry and that he was trying to resuscitate him. I spoke with him by 6 30pm and by 7pm he was dead.
“It is painful because this is something that would have been averted and I can’t understand why a dean of department of medicine should leave the hospital where he has all the equipment to go to his private clinic and I believe that is how some other people die.” Nwobodo stated.
