By Chioma Obinna

The story of 37 – year – old Funmilola (Lola) Oniyelu, who alleged she was mismanaged by doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, made headlines, last week.  While Lola claimed she was down with end stage renal disorder following a surgery at the hospital, LUTH management says her claim  is false.

Chief Medical Director, Prof. Chris Bode

Sunday Vanguard spoke to the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Chris Bode, who revealed that the patient’s  travails began  on July 23, 2008 when she was rushed to the emergency unit of the hospital.

Bode said Lola was eight months pregnant when she was brought to  LUTH following her referral from a private hospital.

“Hospital records showed severe hypertension and 2+proteinuria. The referral showed that she was treated for severe pre- eclampsia but she discharged herself against medical advice from the private hospital three days after while her blood pressure was still elevated in pregnancy”, he stated.

He explained that,  on admission in LUTH, doctors discovered that Lola’s blood pressure was highly elevated with protein in her urine.

The doctors, according to him,  were able to perform an emergency Caesarian Section “under professionally standard conditions within six hours of presentation despite the fact that she was classified a high – risk for surgery but saving the baby was also essential to saving her life”.

According to the CMD, after the successful surgery and discharge, “although Lola’s severe eclampsia continued post – operatively after her discharge five days later, she was not seen in the hospital’s follow up clinics until seven years later”.

Bode, who expressed shock at the stories making the rounds about  the patient’s  predicament, said it is sad the way patients criticise medical professionals after gallant efforts they put in to save their patients lives.

“We are not against patients raising funds for renal transplant but we take objection to patients ruining the hospital in the name of whipping-up sentiments to raise money,”he stated.

“After Lola was operated on and  taken care of in 2008; she disappeared and was not seen again until seven years later, precisely on June 22, 2015, with another complication of pregnancy”, the CMD said.

“She presented after seven years again from an hospital at Isolo  with severe preeclampsia with drainage of liquor at 36 weeks, blood pressure of 170/120mmHg and a doubtful fetal heart beat.”

He dismissed Lola’s claim that it was the surgery LUTH carried out that damaged her kidneys.

“After her surgery, she was co- managed with the consultant nephrologist on account of persistently elevated blood pressure and deranged renal function tests.   Despite closed monitoring she had episode of post – partum eclampsia on the fifth  post-operative day which was aborted by the use of parenteral magnesium sulphate”, Bode explained.

Stating that the  tertiary hospital only saved her life by carrying out the surgery immediately, he explained that anybody with preeclampsia is high risk for kidney disease and other organ failures.

“Pre- eclampsia is a complication that sometimes affects pregnant women, posing grave risk to mother and baby in the womb. Its causes remain unknown; this terrible disease of pregnancy is a cause of maternal and neonatal deaths and this is why the urine of pregnant women is routinely tested for protein at all ante- natal clinics,”Bode said.

“ It is sad but not strange therefore that Lola possibly developed chronic renal failure subsequent to the complication of her last pregnancy. She arrived on shock from the ruptured uterus and this was what triggered the renal failure during her second emergency.”

The CMD  said the patient’s current situation  was not  related to anything the doctors who saved her life twice did or did not do.

He stated that  LUTH was  proud to have saved Lola’s life each time she arrived at the hospital as an emergency in grave conditions with complications of pregnancies that had been managed elsewhere. “She is still attending our clinics and we will not victimise her but continue to treat her with the professional courtesy and kindness she deserves. She may require money for further treatment but we implore her to desist from saying hurtful things that may tarnish the image of the hospital and the professionals that treated her,” he added.