The Lagos University Teaching Hospital on Saturday said it would not release Mayowa Ahmed, an ovarian cancer patient, for treatment elsewhere until her family signed a consent form.The Ahmed family have been enmeshed in a controversy with popular actress, Toyin Aimakhu and an NGO founder Aramide Kasumu. Speaking in a phone interview with one of our correspondents, the Public Relations Officer of LUTH, Mr. Kenneth Otuneme, said that the family had yet to sign a consent form for Mayowa’s release.
He said, “Mayowa is still with us. If the family needs a referral letter, the managing consultant would decide on that. If the managing consultant wants to issue a referral letter, he will. It is up to the family. I don’t know if the hospital plans to release Mayowa.
“As of Friday, I have not seen Mayowa Ahmed’s family. However, we won’t stop any family who wants to take their patient away; all they need to do is to sign a consent form. If a patient’s condition is critical and the family members decide to sign the consent form, stating that they no longer require her to be treated at LUTH, we will release the patient. This is the normal practice anywhere in the world.”
It will be recalled that LUTH, in a statement, had said that the patient’s family “requested to fly Miss Ahmed outside the country barely 24 hours after her admission into LUTH, thus stalling all the planned investigations meant to arrive at a definitive diagnosis.”
Speaking in a chat with our correspondents, Mayowa’s brother, Ibrahim, shunned a question on whether the family was planning to take Mayowa abroad.
Meanwhile, Ahmed’s brother, Ibrahim, said he wanted Nigerians to know that the #SaveMayowa campaign was not a scam.
He added that the family never wanted to go public about their move towards raising funds for Mayowa.
He said, “All I can say is that whatever we can do to save our sister’s life, we will do. The whole campaign for funds isn’t a scam. Before now, we never wanted to go public. We had our arrangement, and we were doing it bit by bit. My sister’s medical records are all over the Internet, which is so painful.
“My family was so naïve. We didn’t do our research before accepting offers for help. The whole experience is painful.”
When SUNDAY PUNCH asked the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmus, said the outcome of the police investigations, would be made available when necessary.’’
PUNCH