Got this sad report from SR...A private hospital, which is based in the
Ikotun Egbe area of Lagos, detained Jessica Ugwuoke since August 12,
2015, after the woman and her relatives said they could not afford to
pay the bill for her Caesarean section (CS).
Mrs. Ugwuoke was transferred from a maternity clinic
to Samaria Hospital, which is located on Kudaki Road near Hostel bus
stop in Egbe, Lagos State. The patient’s husband, Tochukwu Ugwuoke, was
asked to pay N30,000 for blood transfusion into his wife, reported to
have lost a lot of blood during labor. The couple’s baby died.
After the loss of her child, Mrs. Ugwuoke has been detained by the hospital for failure to pay the
After the loss of her child, Mrs. Ugwuoke has been detained by the hospital for failure to pay the
hospital’s bills, which came to N285,000. The detained patient told a correspondent of SaharaReporters that the couple was not informed of the cost of the Caesarean section until after the surgery.
According to her, one Dr. Clem ordered that she be denied a hospital bed
and refused her further treatment after her surgery because she and her
husband could not pay the amount of the bill.
“The day they discharged me from the bed, Dr. Clem asked me to tell my husband to bring his money even if he [my husband] has to steal,” the woman said. “I have been lying down on the passageway,” Mrs. Ugwuoke added.
SaharaReporters learned that the detained patient’s husband, who is
currently unemployed, had pleaded with the hospital to release his wife,
promising to seek a loan to pay her hospital expenses, but the hospital
declined his request.
Mrs. Ugwuoke, who is chained to a urinal pipe to forestall her escape,
described her treatment as dehumanizing. She pleaded with the Lagos
State government and human rights organizations to intervene to ensure
her release.
