EreluY:




[size=18pt]What happened to the Hippocratic oath taken when you were enrolled by the medical council? Or, this doesn't happen in Nigeria anymore?[/size]

sofadj:
I own a hospital in Southwest- (not Osun state Nigeria ...lol). I currently have about 17 patients on my ward each of whom I have admitted at several occasions through emergency. None of these patients has paid upto 30% of his/her bill. Some of them have stayed upto 7 weeks on the ward. I admitted and attended to them based on the fact that their conditions were life-threatening as at the time they came. I made their bill known to them - and they signed before they were treated. But there is a common trend, as soon as they felt relief and became stable they pleaded for their bills to be reduced - this I vehemently refused.

About 4 weeks ago a woman was rushed in with Eclampsia having just convulsed while pregnant and she was unconscious. I promptly took her straight to the theatre without collecting a dime though i had informed the relatives of the charges - #120,000 for her operation and medications. They signed and I carried out the surgery succesfully. Mother and baby survived. Within the following 6-days they paid a total sum of #12,000 and they began pleading to go home for the child's christening ceremony. I looked at them with disdain. Till now, they have only managed to pay a total sum of #14,000.

Another man who was managed for strangulated hernia has only paid 20,000 out of 75,000 bill. And the list goes on. Their failure to pay has made it difficult for the hospital to replace consumables and medications needed to manage other people's condition.
In the early hours of today 1:30am, a woman was rushed into the hospital following delivery at the referrral center. Blood had refused to stop gushing out. I did a quick assesment and realised she would need more materials than the hospital pharmacy currently had in store. I could have my staff get from a nearby pharmacy too. However, the husband said he had no money on him and so did the numerous relatives that accompanied. It was indeed a familiar pattern. I decided to let them go. I referred her to a government hospital. Ofcourse they pleaded for me to help but there was nothing I could do. Few minutes after they left - just few metres from my hospital gate, she collapsed. She had lost a lot of blood. I rushed there and rigorously tried resuscitating her right there outside the hospital 2am early morning, but all efforts proved abortive. A young woman of 28years had just died after having her first baby. Screams, wails, cries ensued. I felt bad - this is not why i became a doctor. But her blood is not on my hands.

Her blood is on the hands and heads of all the patients on the ward who can afford to pay but refused to - on the grounds that - "What will they do?. Her blood is on the hands and heads of the government officials past and present who have made it difficult and impossible for workers to get paid for their work. But the government officials are not the target of this my narrat. It is aimed at those who take hospital healthcare and medical doctors for granted. Those (including myself) who emphasise that doctors should not put money first before treating emergency conditions. In emergency cases, relatives would go to any length through any struggle to get money. As soon as the situation becomes calm, they relax and then they refuse to pay.

Last year a distant relative of mine was delivered of her baby via Caesearian section (in a hospital in Lagos- not mine). They were billed #180,000 which they accepted before the operation. After the surgery, her husband called me and asked how much I charge and i told him. He then began pleading with the management of the said hospital to review his bill. They declined. The husband being who he is, paid #120,000 and absconded with his wife and his newly born son. How he did this, I do not know, but i know that at the christening ceremony a week later, he had two cows slaughtered to celebrate the birth of his first son.

Many times we complain of doctors who ask for charges before treating patients but no one has ever bothered to ask the doctors why they do? Doctors are humans too, we need to pay bills. This is our trade, our profession, our means of livelihood. We have needs too. We can not go to the market place with the ID showing that we're doctors and hope to get food items on credit. We need to pay our children's school fees, we need clothes , shelter etc just as you. Everywhere in the world healthcare is expensive, both services and materials are exepensive. Well we understand that you may not have money. The government should find a way. The government should find a way/policy that ensures that we get our money back after we have rendered our service. In the UK there is the National Health Scheme, in the United states they have health insurance schemes too in addition to Medicare, Medicaid. In Nigeria we have the barely effective, poorly regulated and massively corrupt National Health Insurance Scheme.

Well i have decided to change the modus operandi of my institution. The previous one has not benefitted anybody. Henceforth if any one comes to my emergency room without a dime. I will not attend to. If such a person dies, the blood is not on my hands, its on the hands of those who have received treatment in the past and failed to pay afterwards.

Karlovich:
smh, you really need serious mental evaluation, no wonder your politicians flee to foreign countries for medical treatments. So a doctor shouldn't be paid for his services, the drugs and other apparatus he made use of while treating a patient, and some are quick to mention God u begin to wonder why the so called patient wasn't taken to a church or mosque in the first place.

EreluY:


Go away with your mosquito brain. You don't get it, do you? I guess you're one of the so-called medical doctors.

tdayof:
nhis isn't dead . I don't know the hospital you use but I can tell you nhis is well active .

ifeomaekol:
Op, u wia trained to save lives @any cost, in case u dnt kw dt lady's blood is on ur hands(am nt sayn ds to make u feel bad or angry),. Nw I understand u n I cn relate to ur plight. I think wat u shuld be doin frm nw on is to detain them, afta treatment do nt allow them to go until dia bill is settled cos I wouldn't wnt u to reject treating another soul dt needs treatment b/c of d mistakes of others pls. Pls, dnt lock ur hrt, dias a reason u r a doctor n it is to save lives, dnt allow ds type of incident occur again in ur hospital. Tamper justice wt mercy pls.

idris4r83:
If accumulating wealth is what you are looking for after studying medicine then u are in for a ride. A medical degree can only make u sufficient but not rich.

idris4r83:
If accumulating wealth is what you are looking for after studying medicine then u are in for a ride. A medical degree can only make u sufficient but not rich.

divinecode101:
Ok Wailers, blame Buhari for this. Buhari is the cause, Buhari's fault.

Karlovich:
and your brain made u write such nonsense, u better see a psychiatrist before your relatives start blaming innocent people in your village for ur predicament, and I'm no nigerian

EreluY:


It's only the padre, and not the seductionist(s), who is under oath. The latter has nothing at stake, really. The padre either sticks it out or quit if he no longer has the moral stamina and resolve to stay true to his calling. In the same manner, if a medical doctor cannot stay true to her/his calling with reference to the Hippocratic oath, s/he should (if s/he has a conscience) call it a day perhaps by moving into another sector where s/he can stay true to her/his calling. Junior doctors in England are currently demanding better working conditions with a threat that if the government fails to act, they'll move to other parts of the UK (especially Scotland and Northern Ireland) or abroad (Middle East, Australia, Canada, etc.). Rather than fold their arms and watch patients die, they'll simply move elsewhere. Only then can they, like Pontius Pilate, wash their hands clean of a patient's blood.

ifeomaekol:
I kw, bt he must devise a means for them to pay, I jux dnt understand hw someone ll play pranks wt a hospital that did nt hestiate to save ur life---jux dnt understand. My own worry is dt he shulnt b/c of sm pples wickedness turn a deaf ear to d plight of genuine others. Its really a pity dt pple lack intergrity dz days.

idris4r83:
If accumulating wealth is what you are looking for after studying medicine then u are in for a ride. A medical degree can only make u sufficient but not rich.

datigbogirl:


Your statement here has no correlation to your suggestion...ds doctors are not resigning dr profession but will move to a place with better working condition...it's like d prayer of every doctor but you're here saying the doctor should down tools kpatakpata and become jobless simply becos he demands to be paid for the skills he uses in rendering life saving services...

Humans will always take important things for granted.

PrincessC11:
I disagree with you. So many doctors have their own hospital n personal apartment. Some even has different business. So a doctor can also be rich.

datigbogirl:


I appreciate your honesty you don't understand...it shows you don't know the hell docs have been through in d hands of patients...try walking in my shoes and you'll cancel all this your lofty statements.

EreluY:



Your comment demonstrates a lack of basic English comprehension. I don't blame you but the Nigerian educational system.

sofadj:
I own a hospital in Southwest- (not Osun state Nigeria ...lol). I currently have about 17 patients on my ward each

EreluY:


See what 'am talking about? I guess you've not only got mosquito brain, but a dysfunctional one infected with the zika virus. You think I care about your nationality? I don't. And, for your information, whilst everything is wrong with the Nigerian state, there is nothing wrong with being a Nigerian.

KweenSisan:
Well..uve said d truth...buh is just...piple dnt always act d same way..deres still gonna b a group of rich guys who wud prolly wanna pay more...dose who genuinly value deir health..money could also come frm dere

dexpotter:
You have a right judgement. But should the latter be punished for the sins of those that came before them? What if u were not a doc n ur wife or mother fall into similar situation n u are not dere 2 hlp financially @ dat moment??