Hello, Everyone.
First I will like to know if there are any medical lawyers in this forum and based on their experiences after reading my story, I want them to tell me if I have a legal stand or not.

It all started about 3 months ago. An innocent girl was diagnosed of (curable) kidney cancer at Eko Hospital. All was well from the beginning, she was admitted and went through the operation of removing one kidney (primary source of the cancer). After all the fear for the worse, prayers and the pains she went through, the operations was successful and all was well again. She started gaining back her weight, cracking jokes and doing every continued living normally.

She was discharged from the hospital, and was told to come back in the next couple of weeks to start (radiotherapy treatment) (Doomed)
We all know what radiotherapy involves and there is nothing wrong in the treatment, but the manner the patient was been treated using the new radiotherapy device, with little or know knowledge of how it operates.

She has to go through a one month of the radiotherapy treatment, 6 mins per day. Monday to Friday every week. Now she's lost plenty of weight, loss of appetite, always in pain, vomiting and diarrhea and every radiotherapy symptoms you can think of. By now, the fear in the family is intensely growing.

I believe a patient in that kind of situation should be in an intensive care of the hospital in question, but eko hospital sent her home with some drugs that don't work. They said, in the next couple of weeks she would be fully okay and they insisted in her continuation of the treatment.

By now, everything you can think of is happening to this little girl, she's as skinny as you can describe it. From time to time she asks if she's going to survive this, and everyone around her said yes based on what they were told at Eko Hospital, one person accidentally said, "madam I'll tell you the truth, your day is doomed and she will not make it, just take her home and pray for the rest of her life." patient mother confronted the doctors with this matter and they said that "the head nurse that shared that information does not work in their department and knows nothing about what she's talking about".

To cut the very long story short, on the 2nd of October, yesterday, she has to be rushed into the hospital, she said " I don't want to stay at home, I want to be in the hospital, I believe I will be okay when we get to the hospital" When they got to the nearest hospital to their home, they refused her why, because they do not have loads of cash at hand at that moment in time, they progressed further to the next hospital where they required instant deposit as well. Then finally progressed to a further hospital where instant cash is also required.

She herself begged the last doctor, because she doesn't want to go home. Now the time is 1.am all at home trying to make this poor girl comfortable as she was in pain all over, this is a very bright 19 year old girl for God's Sake. 2 am, now she's now twitching all over, and mumbling some word we do not understand.
They had to rush her to EKO Hospital, at the early hours of the morning, like about 4.30 am, right outside the hospital she was confirmed dead!

She'll be buried today Wednesday, October 2007. Another potential Nigerian youth gone.

Although, she's gone, I want you guys to know that this is something that can happen to anybody. Though cancer is not actually the course of her death, but the treatment given to her and the manner the treatment was used.

Key Points
Misleading Information by eko hospital to patient family
throughout this ordeal, only 1 blood transfusion was done.
On her death certificate primary course of death "Malabsorbtion" secondary course of death "renal failure" Note not cancer.
This is poor negligence, this girl would have been alive if not for the negligence.

I want the medical lawyers in this forum to shed some light, at the moment, take me as a very angry man, because the 19 year old angel is my baby sister.

Update1
At the burial ground a doctor had to be called out on emergency, because when her friends asked to open the casket to see her face for the last time, she was sweating. All hope high again, like there's going to be another miracle of the century, we were all confused and wondering why someone confirmed dead will be sweating.

Though we'd thought that it's possible because' she'd just been brought out of ice,  But when a doctor arrived he reconfirmed her dead, and he said that the sweating is possible due to some reasons he mentioned,

Anyway we've buried her now, but another question arises, was she actually dead or unconcious when they confirmed she was dead?, Cos the staff that checked her pulse at the point of arrival was just woken up by other staff,  actually, most of the staff were asleep,  including the gateman that didnt's know when we came in,  we saw him asleep as well, 

Like mama say,  we should leave it to God, but if we keep leaving averything to God, how many young and innocent lives will be taken just because of supidity,  God himself does not welcome stupidity, all we ask for is that extra little care in our hospitals.

Update2
I do not know how to show my appreciation to you guys, your responses and contributions so far had been healing and helpful. Yesterday my sister was buried and we have arranged for mum to stay away from home.

she enjoys hearing all your reponses but still shut of comment, though some peoples responses actually brought smile to her face and she can read all these over an over again, Once again thak you everyone.

Fact Remains
It feels really strange to sleep at night and waking in the morning is like waking in another planet, it feels like you are chewing a dry stick everytime you try to eat something.

Sigh upon sigh and regrets, wish we could turn the clock back, some people said we should have gone to UTH (Ibadan) and others said otherwise, but non of these came when she was alive. The memory of my little sister is everywhere, remembering her last words, her resistance to go back home, her cry for help of the last doctor, her questions, if she's "going to survive or not". In a minute she was alive and another minute she was gone.

How can we prevent this kind of situation in the future. We have indirectly contributed to the death of my little sister as we have paid eko hospital for the treatment, with the belief that we are doing the right thing, it's unbelievable. The Greed, laziness and the incomptency of eko hospital actually killed that poor girl.

All these quack hospitals should be dealt with one way or the other, brights student and future of Nigeria dying young, due to meant to be "professionals doctors" stupidity. Yet Nigeria is calling back home all professional Nigerians in foreign countries. Heaven helps those who help themselves I believe.

Update3
Day 3 my baby sister passed away. We're all trying to return to our normal life, though it's hard, but we are getting there. The last person to hear about her death was her elder sister and this is beacuse she was preparing for exams in school.

We told her eventually and she broke down, it hurts her more when she realised that our baby sister was buried the day after she died.  We all believe she's now at peace. ,

I am sorry for your loss.

Our prayers go to you and your family.

You are at the anger phase of this incident(death) and rightly so, but feel free to drop me an email after a couple of weeks so that I can give you a standard second opinion about kidney cancer.

Be strong for your late sister and other members of your family.

naijaking1, Thanks for your reply and I have actually read your reply to my family. Some death are natural and some caused by stupidity, but this particular one is caused by the negligence of the hospital that is meant to save her life. at the moment, we all feel that we can turn back the clock to atleast 48 hours ago.  .

Yes aftter this bereavment, I will keep intouch for your second opinion.

Thanks.

webjunior,
really sorry about your lil sis.
but i think that hospital should be overhauled! yes! all they have now is a made name nothing more. the service level is zero.
an experience i had when i went for a scan test during pregnancy. i observed that there was incessant power supply --no thanks to NEPA-.
as i was about to undergo the scan when the light went off(what if it was an operation that was taking place?) and the annoying thing was that it was a first time pregnancy, i did not take chances, i had to change hospitals.
another friend of mine that was also giving birth for the first time had a student doctor help her with delivery! in my opinion that is a big nonsense, what if complications had arisen , a young doctor with little or no experience! i'm talking about a life here, once gone cannot be replaced.

the hospital has lost focus!

Hi Mesiie, thanks for your condolence, at the moment I feel really empty as my lil siter was been put in the grave today, the prayer session was really moving, but still finds it upsetting knowing that all she needed was just an extra care.

At the burial ground a doctor had to be called out on emergency, because when her friends asked to open the casket to see her face for the last time, she was sweating. All hope high again, like there's going to be another miracle of the century, we were all confused and wondering why someone confirmed dead will be sweating.

Though we'd thought that it's possible cos' she'd just been brought out of ice, But when a doctor arrived he reconfirmed her dead, and he said that the sweating is possible due to some reasons he mentioned,

Anyway we've buried her now, but another question arises, was she actually dead or unconcious when they confirmed she was dead?, Cos the staff that checked her pulse at the point of arrival was just woken up by other staff, actually, most of the staff were asleep, including the gateman that didnt's know when we came in, we saw him asleep as well,

Like mama say, we should leave it to God, but if we keep leaving averything to God, how many young and innocent lives will be taken just because of supidity, God himself does not welcome stupidity, all we ask for is that extra lil care in our hospitals.

i have a question - why was she not rushed to Eko Hospital and why did it take up to three refused attempts at another hospital to finally decide to take her to Eko Hospital where she had always received treatment and where they understand the history of her illness?

I will say the people that were rushing her to different hospitals have a case of negligence to answer.

Sorry for your loss.
Over here you could sue them for criminal negligence and get enough money to put them out of their misery.

i can,t help shedding tears while reading ur story because i know wat its like to loe a young loved family member, but all the same take heart. i pray god will give u and ur family members the fortitude to bear the loss, amen.

@ WebJunior
Sorry, brother. May God give the family the fortitude to bear the lost. One can only imagine how you feel. My sincere condolence.


This is a need for total overhaul at Eko Hospital. A friend lost his baby in that hosital early this year.

For more than five (5) days after delivery, the baby was kept in a different room under the claim that they were trying to protect the chid from the risk of contamination or whatever. Even, the mother hardly knew the child, not to talk of the father and other relatives.

There was even a case of one woman that had been there for more than two weeks and yet the mother and the baby were separated. (I think it's just their policy there, and so not a kind of complication)

When the baby was eventually released and the mother discharged, they discovered later at home (the same day) that the baby was not okay and rushed back to the hospital. Alas! the baby did not survive it. She gave up the glory the same day.

That is after spending a fortune during ante-natal, delivery and what have you. The separation could not save the child.

Painful! It's indeed painful.

@ Web Junior sorry for the loss.

I have had some experiences with some hospitals and wondered if some doctors or nurses were human.

We don't just value human lives in Nigeria.

That is why i don't really blame anyone for travelling abroad for medical treatment. Some hospitals should be shut down and not to talk of Eko Hospital.

Take heart man and may God grant you the grace to bear the loss.

God bless

x

im speechless !!! dont just know wot 2say. . plz take heart

will be back wen im ok

Na wa o. . . I'm so sorry for your loss webking.

Your sister could definitely have been on chemotherapy while as an outpatient, i'm just surprised that doctors gave her PARACETAMOL as treatment for someone who just had one kidney removed for cancer and could well have been in renal failure!
An overdose of paracetamol (12 tablets and above) can kill a full sized adult male with fully functional kidneys.

- Your sister showed all the signs of renal failure which her doctors failed to diagnose.

- It is possible your sister simply went into shock and eventually a coma when she was pronounced dead. Did she have a very weak pulse?

Its just sad the state of Nigerian hospitals! your sister should not have died of a simple chemotherapy!! the worst symptoms are probably vomitting, immune suppression, hair and weight loss that could have been properly managed.

Sorry Webking, your sister just moved on to a better place where she wont have to cry or feel pain anymore!

@WebJunior,
I feel your pain. May the good Lord console you and the rest of the family. Take heart and be strong. I've had my share of negligence of a Naija hospital as well, an already used needle was used by a nurse to inject me Needless to say it was when I had to do HIV test some months later that I stopped being worried. Or was it that my friend had her 3 months pregnancy recommended for evacuation because she was bleeding until another hospital placed her on bed rest and that the baby was evenrually born hale and hearty and is alive today. God will be delivering us from them all. Pls take heart, the Lord will give u all the fortitude to bear the loss.

@ WebJunior: I'm so, so sorry about your little sister!

I've suffered similar loss, and know what you're going through. Be strong for the rest of the family, and think of your sister as she was, happy and carefree.

May her soul rest in peace.

I am sorry for the death of your sister. Its a pity it happened like that. I just want to say that in case of another time, you should contact another another hospital. If as at the time you started doubting their expertise, you should have taken her to another hospital that is considered better.

No amount of case or compensation can really compensate for the death of a loved one. I pray that God will preserve all her siblings and comfort the parents. Leave the hospital and let the sleeping dog lie. except, of course if you just want the culprit to lose his/her job, so that he/she does not endanger the life of another person, then you can pursue the case.

All the best!

So sorry for your loss.

Webjunior, I am sorry to hear about your loss.

This sounds like somethng that should have been prevented. Until the basic infrastructure in that country is up to standards, most people will continue to leave the country for medical treatment. But, unfortunately, those that can not afford will have to endure this nonsense! Why can't something be done for gods sake! Really painful men,

May her soul rest in peace.

To @labiyemmy , you have a very good question, but I promise you, God forbid bad things, when in a difficulty situation like this, on emergency, in the early hours of the morning, without expectation, someone's life sliding away right before your eyes, your normal reaction is to try and save that person and take them to the nearest hospital.

Secondly, despite the fact that Eko hospital has categorically discharged this girl, we still persited, and never gaveup giving complaints and daily symptoms and occurences.

Still Eko Hospital never mention nothing similar to re-admitting her. mind you, no be say we dey take free service oo, we dey pay daily bed money on regular basis, but they just cant' readmit her, as far as they are concerned, she's been treated and end of story. Thirdly, Eko hospital is far from home considering the time of the situation.

What would you suggest to a poor old widow, with a seventeen yrs old girl and non medical experienced elder brother that is hadly around, with a meant to be on an intensive unit in the hospital at that time do?

Hi Dios and thanks for your response, you are absolutely right, I never know what it means when they say "no amount of money could replace a life" untill now. You can imagine, she used her last strength to beg for her own life She said " Daddy please, help us" to the last doctor. I wished you guys could have seen it, it sad, but it's the gopel truth. If God could grant me a wish, I would say, take my life and save hers. She deserves it more than human.

To spora, thanks for your comment and for sharing those experiences, hopefully something will be done, if we out of stupidity lost all our younger generation I wonder who will be the leaders of tomorrow

Dear Siena, Jinjuta, Seun & Bossman, thank you guys for ur responses, I have been greading these feedbacks to my family, and it's been great hearing the responses. More so I'm still very much interested in knowing or legal stand in this case. I know we have lawyers in this forum and like they say, you never know until it happen to you. This has happened to me and my family and we do not want such a think to happen to anyone again.

Yes people die, we all know that, but it's rather unfair when a life is lost due to someone else's stupidity.

Webjunior, I'm so sorry for your loss. May God comfort you and your family.
Not a medical professional but if they were negligent as you believe then, they should be held accountable.
One of the reasons this does not happen in the western world is that the hospitals know they might be slapped with a lawsuit,
Maybe it is time Nigerian hospitals and doctors became accountable as such, when I hear of doctors in such cases, I wonder whatever happened
to "do no harm??!!"
Again, I am sorry for your loss.

@ poster,
sorry for the loss.its so painful to me and i can just imagine what ur mum will be feeling like right now.
I think if u have a very strong case with evidences and all u can report them to NMA tribunal and am sure if ur case is substantial enough then u'll surelly get justice. I can assure u.
Sorry to get personal,were u guys just two?
meanwhile be rest assured its well, and may God grant u the fortitude to bear the loss.

To 1ofall, thanks for your comment. Hopefully something will be done, but when? it so scary, that I never want to fall ill, because who will treat you? when a lil girl i'd gone for a cancer treatment and ended up been killed not by the actual cancer that she seeked cure for from the hospital, but the actual trettment that is meant to cure her. It's devastating.

May the good Lord grant you and your entire family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss, amen.

web, accept my condolence. may her young soul rest in peace, amen.

INNA LAHA WAHINA ILLEHI RAJIUN.Take Heart Dude.

WebJunior,

As regards the hospitals, health care, negligence, demand for cash before treatment, etc., I'm too angry to make any comments.

Sorry about the loss of your sister. I pray her soul rests eternally in peace.

Accept my sincere condolences.

@webjunior,

i am so sorry for your loss, please accept my sympathy and please do stay strong for your mum.

i know you need a legal opinion, so i'll give my 2cents. i took a course in law and medcine and know for sure that a lot of negligence cases are not usually reported and as such most of the judicial precedents on the subject are foreign. it doesnt mean that you dont have a good case, it simply means that you must be strong enough to rise up against the nigerian factor.

like you know, the nigerian legal system is quite slow and it may take ages to get redress. most medical negligence cases go unpursued because people dont want to remember the pain experienced over and over again, they may just want to leave things to God.

so i suggest that when you are strong enough, you could seek a very good lawyer, one who is sympathetic cos you do have a case, especially if you can show that you complained repeatedly(hospital bills, appointment letters, dates on the hospital card), and also show that your little sister was taken to the other hospitals because they were much closer.

again, please accept my sympathy and may the soul of your little sister find the right path in her journey to eternity.amen

@POSTER, i deeply express my condolence, i pray the lord comfort you and your family.

Sequel to the experience of this fellow citizen, i would like to ask members of this forum.
How many more Nigerians need to die in the hands of this heartless, ever negligent health workers? I know quite a few medical practitionals,and i know some of them are doing their job faithfully and professionally. However the level of laxity and extent of perpetual negligence in the health sector is totaly unacceptable!

I have heard of several cases of doctors leaving behind surgical tools in the body of patients operated upon!
several cases of people dying from malaria while being treated for typhoid fever and vice versa!

My own mother was killed by UCH doctors, as a result of negligence, non chalance and laxity on the part of the nurses! She surferd a brain injury earlier,and had always complained of constant headaches and all the doctors did was place her on paracetamol for months, while she was unkowingly moving around with a cloth in the brain. No brain scan, no follow up, even when her condition worse and was admitted, u need to see the way the nurses behave and attend to patients without care. At the point she needed resurcitation,she didnt get it on time due to "their" laxity, and so we lost her.

I am not writing this to compel anyone's sympathy! but because now i know that alot of innocent lives are being lost due to laziness, non chalance,and negligence. while they make us feel it is normal! Here in the UK i see how nurses treat patients, how carers treat their clients, But why cant the same happen in Nigeria? Its not about money, its about passion to care for people, so whoever feels his pay is not enough should please leave the profession and look for a bank or oil company to work. QUOTE ME ANYWHERE! some police officers here (uk) earn more than some health workers, still they do their job with all passion.

Why is there so much negligence? The simple answer is because no one is being held accountable! Here doctors go to jail for negligence, Nigeria? no one cares! "ITS a normal thing"

They make us belive it is normal to die of malaria, and typhoid. Dont be decieved medicine in Nigeria in developing and NOT JUST STARTED! I strongly feel its high time Nigerians stood up. lets not continue to put up. lets make our voices heard through peacefull demonstrations, NGOs, aswell as legally pushing for the toughest penalty against any hospital/doctor found lacking.

How many more kids need to be carelessly amputated or infected with HIV. THINK!

Please accept my condolence.  I cannot imagine what you are going through right now.  Its hard enough to see a loved one suffer let alone denied help.  May she rest in Peace.  Your sister would not want you to become bitter, but let this propel you in life so that in future you can protect someone from such.  Especially for your mom, God has created something called touch-  it gives comfort , she needs it now more than ever.  Assure her it will get better and it will be rough but it will get better.  

I am so sorry for your loss, and for all Nigerian because this can happen to anyone.  They ask for deposit without even knowing if they can do anything for her.  I think the medical sector in nigeria needs a reform.  Doctors are trained to help life, but the fact that they can see someone in pain and turn their back is more scary knowing that they will knowingly waste your time just for the deposit.
Take each day one at a time, she lives in your hearts.