A plastic surgeon performed a fibroid operation on a woman. This is an operation on the woman’s womb: the purview of gynaecologists. He ended up perforating her bowels and nearly killing her. She was referred urgently to a hospital in Garki, Abuja where doctors struggled to save her.
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| Dr. Biodun Ogungbo |
An obstetrician/gynaecologist who specialises in delivering babies decided to perform a mastectomy for breast cancer. He ended up damaging the woman’s chest and spreading the cancer everywhere.
Another gynaecologist in a private hospital admitted a patient in renal failure (problem with the kidneys). Instead of referring him to a specialist nephrologist, he decides to start doing dialysis. He would have succeeded in killing the patient if the family had not forcibly removed their father to a safe hospital.
Of course, you know about optometrists and ophthalmologists who prescribe useless glasses and artificial tears (at huge costs) for patients with poor eye sight due to brain tumours. The need to extract the last cash from the patient and poor quality practice means they ignore ‘the elephant in the room’ (symptoms of brain tumour such as headaches!). If they ‘cannot see the signs’, how can their patients see? Many patients go blind while wearing beautiful glasses! No wonder optometrists sell you artificial tears!
Pharmacists now “prescribe” medicines for conditions such as malaria, typhoid, and even high blood pressure. Further, some also set IV infusions, initiate treatment for complex gynaecological condition needing specialist attention and even now perform invasive minor surgery in their pharmacies. Many have become ‘untrained doctors’ therefore leaving their actual job of compounding and drug dispensing to illiterates.
For example, my niece went to a local chemist in Lagos, to buy Coartem. Coartem is Artemether Lumenfantrin (Novartis), an anti-malarial drug. The chemist boy did not have Coartem but decided to sell her an alternative, Cataflam! Now, Cataflam is an anti-inflammatory agent and analgesic containing Potassium Diclofenac (Novartis). It has no anti-malarial agent in it.
In fact a similar situation happened to me as well many years ago. I had gone to another chemist to buy Chlorpropamide (Diabenese), an oral sugar control tablet for my diabetic patient. The chemist said he did not have that but had Chlorpromazine (Largactil, a drug for depression and mental illness). He said that they were similar drugs since they both began with ‘Chlor’.
You can imagine my horror when he said this. Not only will my diabetic patient not be treated as he is not getting the prescribed drug, he will now be dosed into coma with an antidepressant.
Seven Indian teams from different health organisations and hospitals were in Abuja and Lagos recently touting for and spiriting patients away to India. These money changers were in Nigeria giving medical advice and opinions, ‘freely’, to a largely unsuspecting population who were invited by Airtel SMS messages. Do they have Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) certificates to practice in Nigeria? Did the MDCN even know they were here? Which local doctors did they collude with for monetary gain? But, you are smart, aren’t you? Otherwise, your liver and kidney may be at risk!
Warning: You know that there is no free lunch in Lagos!
From Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers, Anambra, Kano to Kaduna – just to mention but a few states – there has been a proliferation of local herbal business. There is indiscriminate sale and use of herbal concoctions, especially touted ‘aphrodisiacs’, in the country. These drugs have been linked to the high and increasing incidence of stroke, kidney and liver f ailure in Nigeria. These drugs which cure all diseases, even HIV, are sold openly, all over the place. The advertising is sophisticated, on radio, TV and even more deafening than the call to morning prayers in our local mosques. As Sonala Olumhenze said, ‘we conveniently forget that food poisoning does not mean someone has put poison in your food. You can poison yourself’.
And ministers from hell
Few would regard a pastor’s role as a dangerous calling, but many pastors in Nigeria are businessmen, fake doctors and rapists hiding in the pastoral ministry. Some are wolves in expensive sheep wool and with huge bank accounts. Churches and pastors encourage the sick to come for ‘admission’, vigil, prayers with Olive oil and ‘holy water’ while stopping their normal medications. If you do well, then God has intervened and the pastor wins heavily. If not, you have not prayed hard enough. Either way the pastor is laughing all the way to the bank. He is living happily ever after with ‘your portion’.
Friendly Advice: You don’t need anyone sending messages to God on your behalf!
And finally, wretched airlines
Dana air crash was not investigated and no lessons were learnt. Sadly, another airline crashed last few weeks further increasing the carnage in the Nigerian airline industry. The aviation ministry confirmed that 24 persons (17 passengers and seven crew members) were aboard the crashed Associated Airlines. Only five people survived the fatal crash. Did you see the burnt bodies dumped unceremoniously and shamelessly by the road side? The dead do not get any respect in Nigeria and, of course, with the severely contaminated crash site, the investigation is another non-starter.
Please ask yourself this question today: What is your life worth? The other question is this: Who is protecting Nigerians? Because God must be pretty busy elsewhere.
NB: Please send your answers through the website.
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