Coroner indicts Premier Hospital doctors for negligence in Peju Ugboma’s death

A coroner’s inquest on Thursday indicted doctors of Premier Specialist Medical Centre for negligence in the death of Peju Ugboma, the Lagos chef.

Ugboma died on April 23, 2021, after undergoing surgery at the hospital located in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Her family had alleged that she died due to the negligence of health officials at the hospital, where she had undergone surgery for fibroid but later suffered internal bleeding.

During the inquest on Thursday, Mukiala Fadeyi, the magistrate, said the “only logical insight to her death is a result of the combination of lack of due diligence of the doctors.”

Fadeyi added that the failure of appropriate response and substandard optimal care contributed to her demise.

The magistrate said other factors include the absence of vital medical devices, poor documentation of clinical notes, and failure to promptly involve appropriate surgeons.

The magistrate recommended that the code of conduct and ethics of medical practitioners be tightly reviewed to severely punish negligent doctors.

Fadeyi also urged the government to not limit funding to state-owned hospitals but also render funds to private facilities for equipment.

The magistrate said the government and regulatory agencies must strictly follow the standard PCV of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for both sexes before the commencement of surgery.

The coroner’s inquest, which kick-started in May 2021, had 16 witnesses, including the widower, doctors, pathologists, and others.

Speaking with reporters, Ugboma, the husband of the deceased, expressed satisfaction with the judgement

“I’m very happy with the outcome of the inquest, it’s been a very long one. The circumstances of my wife’s death were not satisfactory,” he said.

Babatunde Ogungbamila, Ugboma’s lawyer, said Peju got justice but the health system failed her.