Renowned Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has alleged that medical negligence at a Lagos hospital led to the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu Nnamdi.
The child passed away on Wednesday, January 7, after complications from a sedation procedure.
The incident occurred while the family was in Lagos for the Christmas holidays. Nkanu, one of Chimamanda’s twin boys, developed a serious infection and was initially admitted to Atlantis Hospital.
To prepare him for an emergency medical evacuation to Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States, doctors referred him to Euracare Multispecialist Hospital for an MRI and the insertion of a central line to facilitate intravenous medication.
Chimamanda claims that while her son was stable upon arrival at Euracare on January 6, his condition deteriorated after the administration of anesthesia.
Chimamanda states that a doctor informed her the anesthesiologist administered an excessive dose of propofol, which made the child become unresponsive.
The author alleges the medical team failed to monitor the vital signs of her son after sedation, leading to seizures and cardiac arrest.
In response to this allegations, Euracare Multispecialist Hospital has launched an internal probe into the circumstances surrounding the treatment and subsequent death of the author’s son.
In a statement released by her media team, Chimamanda described the conduct of the anesthesiologist as fundamentally flawed. She also alleged that the specialist failed to use proper transport protocols.
The anesthesiologist was CRIMINALLY negligent. He was fatally casual and careless with the precious life of a child. No proper protocol was followed.The anesthesiologist had just casually carried Nkanu on his shoulder to the theatre, so nobody knows when exactly Nkanu became unresponsive
The management of the hospital has sympathized with the family but however, as at the time this report was published, declined to provide specific clinical details to the media, as investigations are underway to review the medical procedures followed during the child’s care.
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