CORONER INDICTS PREMIER SPECIALIST HOSPITAL FOR NEGLIGENCE OVER PEJU UGBOMA'S DEATH

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

The coroner inquest in the death of Peju Ugboma, has blamed Premier Specialist Medical center for substandard and inadequate optimal care by the doctors, stating that her death could have been avoided.

The coroner, Magistrate Mukaila Fadeyi mentioned while reading his judgement on the case at an Ogba Magistrate court on Thursday.

He stated that it was a failure on the part of the doctors on duty not to find out that the deceased had a pre-existing condition before the surgery was conducted.

Fadeyi added that the absence of vital machines and the unwillingness of the doctors to address the issues immediately after surgery were questionable.

He recommended that the code of ethics for medical practitioners should be tightly reviewed, adding that relevant agencies should do more sensitisation for members of the public to know their rights.

“State Governments should not limit funds to state-owned hospitals but extend funding to private hospitals.

“Government and medical regulators should ensure that the standards by World Health Organisation for Packed-Cell Volume (PCV) of 38 per cent before any surgical operation should be maintained,” he added.

He however commended the widower of the deceased, Mr Ijeoma Ugboma, and his family for seeking the truth.

41-year-old Peju, owner of pastry company “I Luv Desserts”, died on April 25, 2021; at Evercare Hospital in Lekki from complications after undergoing a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) in a bid to remove fibroids at the Premier Specialist Hospital in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Following the Lagos-Chef’s death, her family had accused the hospital of unprofessional conduct resulting in her untimely demise.

The Lagos State government through the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA), shut down the intensive care unit of the hospital in June 2021, pending the outcome of its investigation.

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) had earlier indicted three out of four Premier Specialists doctors.

The doctors are Akiseku Kazeem, Kingsley Renner and Motunrayo Amadu.

The indictment followed a petition by Mr Ijoma Ugboma.

While speaking with the press after the judgement, Mr. Ugboma, the husband to the deceased expressed his happiness with the outcome of the inquest.

He said, “We’ve been on this case since June 2021, which is about a year and nine months but,ni’m happy.

“With the ruling of the court, I think it just corroborate with the fact that the circumstances of my wife’s death were not satisfactory.”

“Recall that when we went for the MDCN panel hearing, three out of the four doctors were indicted. I came to the court and told the court that my wife could have been killed three or four times. With the long list of fault line which has been mentioned by the coroner, today, you would see that what I have been saying was not out of place at all.”

“I’m happy that it has come to this and I know that tonight, my children will be happy.

When asked what he would do next after the coroner’s judgement, he simply said he would be talking to his lawyer because he already has some options.

He said, ” This is a chapter, we are not done with the process. This is fact finding.

According to Mr Ugboma, after seeking fact-finding, the doctors need to be held accountable for what happened.

While reacting to the verdict, the counsel to the family, Mr. Babatunde Ogungbami, said: “The dead is gone and may her soul rest in perfect peace but I love the doggedness of the husband to seek the truth, to seek a closure.

“He decided to see through, and today it becomes very clear that we really need to pay particular attention to medical services in Nigeria.

“Clearly, this has been confirmed as death occasioned by medical negligence and it is avoidable.

“The woman died leaving her children, and she paid a lot to get the best medical services yet, what happened?

‘Government has to come up and look to see how to rejig the system.”