Doctor forgot delivery pad in my sister’s stomach – Uchenna Okoli
By DailyTab24
In the early morning of Tuesday, an online business woman Uchenna Love Okoli updated on her facebook page about how her sister nearly died due to doctor’s carelessness.
“Doctors has cut so many people’s life short just because of carelessness” her first sentence captures the reality of patients in Nigeria. Doctors barely know about the passion of the profession, they simply focus on returns.
While in school, Izuchukwu said he wanted to study medicine, his only reason for embracing the course was due to the money he would make tomorrow. He later dropped out of school and now manages a chemist shop, where he prescribe drugs for his customers.
“Medicine or any business related to health gives money, you don’t need to stress yourself, people will definitely get sick and they will pay any amount to stay alive. So, if you study medicine- find a good location, build or rent a hospital and you are good to go. Money will flow endlessly” He said.
In Nigeria, the medical profession is now viewed from a lens of financial gain. While also admitting that the belief is not absolute, the rate of medical bills or the way hospitals charge patients is a serious pointer that to fact.
Uchenna was in a thanksgiving mode, it was a relief for her that her sister escaped death. Since her sister put to bed through caesarean section, her surgical wound could not be healed despite all efforts made.
Her Pains
She has been at home nursing her child under intense pain and discomfort, unable to explain why ordinary wound could not heal. They engaged in all manner of things and opened their ears to all kinds of advice to know what could be done for her sister’s surgical cut to heal.
The problem is the doctor’s fault “We’re thanking God for saving this my sister after six months of giving birth through Cs. This delivery pad was forgotten in her stomach” she explained with the picture of the delivery pad found in her sister’s stomach six months after delivery.
“Doctors have formed a disgusting habit of not inspecting nurses as they stitch wounds in hospitals across the country. This is not the first time something like this is happening in this Nigeria. You see it in movies and comedy that a doctor forgot scissors, it could happen in Nigeria, nothing is impossible” Onyeka said.
Unprofessional nurses are employed by hospitals in Nigeria and then trained in their hospitals, and in most cases, the nurses are allowed to handle things that are beyond their capabilities.
Narrating what her sister underwent throughout the six months of her post surgery fraught with excruciating pain.“Ever since she gave birth, no peace for this lady, the wound refused to heal. Oh my God, I don’t wish this, not even to my enemy oooo” she said.
Explaining how her sister found herself in the condition, the online business woman who specializes in sales of food items, clothes and shoes first began with appreciation unto God.
“ Thank God. He saved her. Last week when her husband was clearing her up and saw little white cloth, they rush her to hospital oooo. This is what they brought out from her stomach, Obi na igwe daalu sir, You have done what no man can do, Be thy exalted forever and ever” she praised God.
“To all pregnant women I pray you come out safely and sound. Nothing will cut your life short. To all mothers may we live long in good health to eat the fruits of our labour Amen. Help me call this God a beautiful name because he has done us too good” she concluded.
She made the post with a picture of the delivery pad that was forgotten in the stomach of her sister, and one begins to wonder how such thing could be possible.
If the pad is a small part, it could be said it’s a normal human error, but the idea of a complete delivery pad being forgotten in a woman’s stomach is a shock.
It stems from carelessness and not common error. The doctor that performed the surgery must have failed all professional protocols, or maybe failed to give ethical attention to a patient. This has led to the death of many patients in the country, and if not for luck, Uchenna’s sister would have joined the number of victims of doctor’s carelessness.
Despite making the story public, no action has been taken, and neither has any nongovernmental organization contacted her for prosecution of the matter.
“This incident should not be taken lightly with the family. Uchenna Love Okoli did not update the name of the hospital nor the doctor that conducted the surgery. She did not also throw light on the action the family took, did her family go back to the hospital or spoke with the doctor? Usually, we see this kind of thing and the doctor beg victims to have mercy on them, pleading that his hopistal or name should not be updated to avoid tarnishing his image” a comment says.
Religion also plays into the head of the victims in some cases. They say God was the One that saved the victim and that they won’t pursue any case against the hospital or surgeon that conducted the surgery.
Conclusion
Her story underscores the need for ethics in the medical profession, and the need for the government to step up penalties for this kind of incident. The Nigerian medical professionals have not done enough to bring about a practice concurrent with international standard.
Failure to prosecute a matter of this nature could be detrimental to the country’s medical practitioners, and would encourage carelessness. There must be a deterrence measure if correction is to be taken.
In this instance, government should not allow the victim dictate what happens or continue to hide the identity of the surgeon that performed such careless surgery and the hospital it was carried out. The government should arrest the victim and make sure she gives information about the doctor and the hospital- for those involve to be prosecuted.
By prosecuting them, lessons will be learned, and a doctor will know he needs extreme carefulness because a mistake will also land him in the prison for life. This will balance the scale for both victims and the doctors.
