By Martins Ifijeh
In a response to the controversial #savemayowa campaign that is currently trending on social media, the management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) in a statement released yesterday said it did not refer Mayowa Ahmed on any medical trip abroad, and that the institution was not involved in any fund raising activity for her treatment.
The hospital, which referred to Mayowa as an old patient of the hospital said she was brought in again on Monday, 25th July, 2016 with a history and clinical features of an intra-abdominal mass, adding that the family and the patient brought along some results of laboratory investigations ordered and done from outside LUTH.
“Three different Specialists were then invited to review Mayowa. The Gynaecologist, Oncologist and Haematologist all arrived at a tentative diagnosis of an abdominal malignancy. The specialists planned to conduct a series of fresh tests to confirm the definitive diagnosis, since the earlier tests were neither requested nor authorised by any doctor from LUTH.
“The family however requested to fly Miss Ahmed outside the country barely 24 hours after her admission in LUTH, thus stalling all the planned investigations meant to arrive at a definitive diagnosis. We were able to transfuse her with much-needed blood only after lots of persuasion where the family was told point blank that it was risky for her to travel by air, given her low blood count. Today is the 3rd day after admission and a definitive diagnosis has not yet been made while the relations insist on their own to carry her abroad,” the statement reads in part.
According to LUTH, there was a disturbance of the peace of the hospital yesterday around the ward premises when an altercation involving Miss Ahmed’s relatives and persons not known to the Hospital ensued, adding that the police were invited to restore peace in the Hospital.
The hospital therefore enjoined the good-natured public, press-men and philanthropists to seek the expert opinions of specialists in Nigeria if they must maximise the gains of their concerted efforts and selfless contribution towards alleviating the suffering of fellow Nigerians.
