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AE-FUTHA: Death of six-month old baby causes ‘fight’ between father and doctors

Published

February 6, 2020

The death of a six-month old baby girl patient, Miss Onyema Osinachi-Rosemary, at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, on Tuesday, has sparked off ‘fight’ between the father of the child, who is a policeman attached to the State Police Command and some medical Doctors at the hospital.

Sources gathered that little Miss Onyema, allegedly died after ingestion of a drug by a Doctor, at the AE-FUTHA on Tuesday night.

The policeman, names withheld, who was said to be of the rank of Sergeant, had taken his sick child to the hospital for medical treatment on Monday.

It was further gathered that a medical Doctor, who first attended to little Miss Onyema, prescribed drugs for her; but another Doctor came in and prescribed another drugs, different from the one already recommended by the first Doctor, for the baby.

A source in the hospital, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the drugs

recommended by the second Doctor was later administered on the baby, which later led to her death, some minutes after she was ingested of it.

“The policeman then confronted the second Doctor and held him on the neck over the death of his baby patient. One of the Doctors who were on duty, came from behind and slapped the policeman and the policeman retaliated by holding so tight on his neck.

“The first drugs which was prescribed by the first Doctor, which the police man bought is still with him. It was this second Doctor, who insisted that the police man should ignore the first one and go and get the second drugs, which we are sure killed the baby.

“It was not up to 15 minutes that after the baby was administered of the drugs, that she died. The police man was already negotiating a small portion at the cemetery where to bury his little girl, when the Doctor that prescribed the drugs came and he merely held him on the shirt up to the neck. All of a sudden , another Doctor from behind slapped the police man,” the source said.

The incident, our Correspondent gathered, caused pandemonium, in the hospital and it took the

intervention of the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Emeka Onwe-Ogah and the state Commissioner of Police to calm the situation.

Following the incident, Association of Resident Doctors in the hospital held an emergency meeting, but details of the meeting could not be ascertained, as of the time of filing this report.

Speaking to journalists in his office, the CMD, Dr. Onwe-Ogah, said,

“The matter is being handled. I am just come back from police station. The Association of Resident Doctors and their exco met, then my own management team went to see the Commissioner of police.

“But one thing I have to say is that the man did not assault our Doctor because he was a police officer. He did it on his own, because he was the one who brought the child to the hospital, because he is attached with the Ebonyi State Police Command. Courtesy demands that we have to report him to his primary place of work. That is what is happened.

“We are happy that the CP is handling the matter well. We have had discussion with him and we have made our official complaint. He has already minuted it to the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Intelligence to take up the matter and investigate it. Let us wait and see happens; and I think that is the best way to handle it.

“I have appealed to the Resident Doctors Association members to calm down, that management will see that justice is done. Our interest is to protest the lives of every person working here, including our patients and every patient here is under our care.”