Family Petitions Lagos Govt Over Father’s Death At LASUTH

The Akin Olamiti family of Alagbado community in Lagos, has petitioned the Lagos State government over the death of their father, Mr. Festus Morakinyo Akin-Olamiti who was said to have died at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital.

 The family in the petition dated 6th, January, 2023, addressed to the state’s Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, signed by Oluseyi Akin-Alamiti on behalf of the family, which was obtained by LEADERSHIP alleged that the victim died through negligence.

Apart from the alleged negligence the petitioners also claimed that there was a communication gap between the family and health professionals in the hospital over the treatment of their father.

 The petition read,’’ Painfully, our father, Pa Akin-Olamiti died in LASUTH on Monday, 18th April 2022 due to collective failures by the hospital and its members of staff.

 ‘’Time and time again, we attempted to get information about his health, especially following several prescribed medications, scans, and surgeries. The efficacy of prescribed medications was questionable, as it was not evidently making him better.

‘’Numerous medical tests carried out on him were either unnecessary or repetitive especially for the fact that the interpretation of these tests was not made clear to the family when asked. However, we were advised to continue the tests, buy the medications, and pay for scans in the hospital. This is “surely” not how the hospital management funds its business and partners?

 ‘’According to the code of conduct for the medical council of Nigeria, when any such aspect (as mentioned above) is called to question within the context of Medical (and Dental) Practitioners Act (as stated above). The medical practitioners looking after him were not sufficiently skilled and or knowledgeable to provide the level of relevant care required which inevitably led to his untimely and avoidable death.’’

 The family further noted that, ‘’In critical situations, especially in relation to the health state of an individual, the rationale for a treatment decision should be communicated with either the patient, family member(s) or career. This was far from the case in our scenario because we were not provided with alternative treatment options other than a surgery, in hindsight there were other options.

‘’There was zero communication with us regarding how a decision was made/reached to conclude that surgery was the most effective option under the given circumstances. This shows that medical practitioners and surgeons in the hospital have not been participating in programmes of continuing professional development which is a necessary condition for practitioners to remain relevant in practice and achieve relevant renewal of their medical licenses.

 ‘’This lack of knowledge coupled with other factors led to his untimely death and without a doubt must have had a contributory impact to the avoidable demise of other patients.’’