Juliet Jacob Ochenje
The doctor who performed two surgeries on the late 14 year-old Adebola Akin-Bright whose small intestine mysteriously disappeared thereafter, Dr. Abayomi Baiyewu of Obitoks Hospital, is not a qualified surgeon.
This was revealed on Friday by the Media Assistant to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Eromosele Ebhomele, who quoted the Chairman of the Lagos Assembly ad-hoc committee with the mandate to investigate the circumstances that led to the disappearance of Adebola Akin-Bright’s small intestine, Hon. Noheem Adams.
Ebhomele said the Speaker of the House, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, in response to the revelation, directed the Clerk, Barr. Olalekan Onafeko, to write to the Lagos State Police Command for the arrest of the doctor whose hospital is located in the Alimosho area of Lagos.
Adebola died on Tuesday shortly after the House called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to further assist him seek treatment abroad.
Speaking on the investigation, Adam explained that the committee learnt from Dr. Baiyewu, who testimonies were recorded, that he is not a surgeon but only relied on his experience as a medical doctor and did not carry out any medical examination on the boy before the first surgery which he did himself. He added that he only relied on the report from a hospital the patient was first taken to.
Baiyewu, who said he did the first surgery, told the lawmakers that when the boy continued to complain about stomach pain, he was taken back to Obitoks Hospital where the doctor carried out another round of surgery by himself and following more complicatiions, the deceased was taken to LASUTH where it was confirmed that part of his intestine was missing.
The lawmaker said as a doctor, Baiyewu should have taken the excised part of the boy’s body to a pathological department for test, but that “Dr. Baiyewu told the committee that the body parts were mistakenly discarded,” and that the doctor had planned to do a third surgery before the boy was taken to LASUTH.
The Speaker subsequently asked the committee to look into grey areas surrounding invitation of officials of the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA) which has the law-backed responsibility to monitor private hospitals operating in the State.
He further directed the committee to review the extant laws so as to know if it should be amended just as he said private hospitals can be made to always report their activities to the government at all times.
Some of the lawmakers who spoke on the issue, suggested that a formal complaint be made against Baiyewu to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for action while others urged stricter monitoring of medical doctors and hospitals.
