Lassa fever patient was not neglected – Keffi FMC
From Hassan Ibrahim, Lafia
The Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Center, Keffi in Nasarawa State, Dr. Joshua Ndom Gyan, said yesterday that the Lassa fever patient, who died at the facility on January 15, was not neglected.
Addressing a press conference yesterday in Lafia, Dr Gyan said, “The late Bala Lawal was referred to the facility by a doctor in Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia. He was unconscious when he arrived the facility on January 11, 2017. His medical referral only showed that he had sepsis/tonsillitis.
“Unknown to us, the patient had been suspected to have Lassa Fever, and a sample had been sent for testing. On the second day, our doctors were told on phone that it was a confirmed case of Lassa fever. Even in this condition of shock, our team still attended to him, risking the infection, while scouting for the drugs and Personal Protective Equipment. The Federal Ministry of Health responded promptly to our call and provided the necessary items on January 13. A total of four doses of Ribavirin were administered to him before his death on 15 January 2017.
“We sympathize with the deceased’s family for the irreparable loss and consider their sharp reactions and claims that the patient was killed as part of the grieving process. I also urge the public to disregard the rumour making the rounds that Baba died as a result of negligence”.
The father of the deceased, Alhaji Muhammed Baba Lawal, earlier accused the medical personnel of negligence. He alleged that doctors at the center failed to attend to his son for three days.
Also, on the case of alleged theft of kidney at the center, Dr. Gyang said, “The patient came here in 2010, critically ill and the doctors battled to save his life. They removed a 1kg tumour on the left side of his abdomen. He was nursed and discharged after about a month.
“He returned six years later for treatment of another ailment, at which time his left kidney was discovered to be missing. Without proper education, he jumped to the conclusion that his kidney had been stolen. What then happened? Could the tumour removed have been a diseased left kidney? Let it be known that under the prevailing health condition of the patient then as described by the surgeon, the tumour had grown to a proportion that distorted the anatomy of the abdominal organs with puss all over the place. The good thing is that the life of the patient was saved. Histopathology report would have helped identify what was removed, but the report showed that it was rotten beyond reasonable analysis.”