The Death Of Mrs Fuseini Versus The Autopsy Results

I can not tell if negligence was the cause of the death of Mrs. Fuseini for two reasons; firstly as a result of my faith and teachings of my religion, and secondly I am not a medical Doctor.

I was however not surprised when I read the outcome of the results of the autopsy on myjoyonline.com on 6th May 7, 2010. If the suspect is the Judge, the investigator and the lawyer what else should be expected?

It was definitely to be expected that, no autopsy results would implicated anybody. Nurses and Doctors in Ghana are always quick to move heaven and earth to defend their short fallings. If doctor A. should out of any autopsy decides to implicate his colleague doctor B. in the same fraternity, how will that colleague treat him tomorrow if he or she has to also conduct an autopsy whose results would be distasteful to doctor A?

When nurses at the La General Hospital in Accra beat up a patient the other day what happened? The victim who was beaten had doctors unwilling to even give her a medical report for an obvious professional negligence! What has become of that case somebody answer this?

No day passes without Ghanaians receiving negligence in one way or the other from doctors, nurses and other workers within the hospitals. Some of these victims have spoken openly but nothing came out of it. Some are afraid to talk out of fear that, they will be left to die should they talk! In such a scenario how can these unprofessional misconducts be shamed?

My advice to doctors and nurses is that, they should put the fear of God in their work. They should know that, there is a supreme creator who sees all the “negligence” and will definitely question them on the Day of Judgment. I am not concluding that all doctors and nurses are bad. Some are very good and are usually affected sincerely when ever a case they are handling goes wrong! To such category of medical staff I say keep it up!

When president Mills also requested further investigations, I personally thought that, the death of Mrs. Fuseini would have been used as a case study to exposed obvious medical negligence in the country. I wanted the autopsy results to implicate some nurses and doctors so that, they would have been sacked and even tried in our courts and imprisoned to serve as a deterrent sad that the results went the other way.

I want to use this opportunity to express my profound sympathies to uncle Inusah and the entire family for the lost. Let us accept what happened as the will of God. It is a difficult and a great lost but what can we do about what Allah has ordained? The holy Quran says somewhere that, when Allah decrees a thing he need only say be! And it is! Let the family accept that what happened is but one of Allah’s decrees.

May I suggest to uncle Inusah and the family to set up a Mrs. Fuseini Foundation at least in the Tamale Central Constituency; one in her memory and two to use the foundation to support victims and families of medical negligence. I am willing to offer further support in kind in this direction.

To all those who have ever been victims of medical negligence in any form and shape take heart and give all to God. To our doctors and nurses we beg you show compassion to us and treat us with utmost love if ill-health makes us your clients. And finally rest in peace Mrs. Fuseini.