Chimamanda Adichie, the award-winning Nigerian author, has accused Euracare Hospital in Lagos of negligence over the death of her 21-month-old son.
Nkanu Nnamdi, one of Adichie’s twin sons, died on Wednesday after a medical emergency during a procedure at the hospital.
In a statement circulating on social media on Saturday, Adichie alleged that her son would still be alive if not for what she described as “criminal negligence” at Euracare Hospital.
The author said her family was in Lagos for Christmas when Nkanu developed what initially appeared to be a cold but later became a serious infection.
She said the toddler was admitted to Atlantis Hospital and scheduled to travel to the US the following day, January 7, accompanied by travelling doctors, with a medical team at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on standby to receive him.
Adichie said the Johns Hopkins team requested a lumbar puncture and an MRI, while the Nigerian medical team decided to insert a central line in preparation for the flight.
She added that Atlantis Hospital referred the family to Euracare for the procedures.
She said Nkanu was sedated on the morning of January 6 to prevent movement during the MRI and central line procedure.
“I was waiting just outside the theater. I saw people, including Dr M, rushing into the theater and immediately knew something had happened,” Adichie said.
“A short time later, Dr M came out and told me Nkanu had been given too much propofol by the anesthesiologist, had become unresponsive and was quickly resuscitated.
“But suddenly Nkanu was on a ventilator, he was intubated and placed in the ICU. The next thing I heard was that he had seizures. Cardiac arrest. All these had never happened before. Some hours later, Nkanu was gone.
“It turns out that Nkanu was never monitored after being given too much propofol. The anesthesiologist had just casually carried Nkanu on his shoulder to the theater, so nobody knows when exactly Nkanu became unresponsive.”
Adichie alleged that the anaesthesiologist was “criminally negligent, fatally casual and careless with the precious life of a child”.
She said the family has since learned of two previous cases involving the same anaesthesiologist overdosing children.
She questioned why Euracare Hospital allowed the doctor to continue practising, saying the incident “must never happen to another child”.
Omawumi Ogbe, Adichie’s representative, confirmed to TheCable that the author shared the account with a closed circle of family and friends and did not intend for it to be made public.
“While we are saddened that such a deeply personal account of grief and trauma was leaked, the details therein highlight the devastating clinical failures the family is now forced to confront,” Ogbe said.
She added that the family hopes the focus remains on “the gross medical negligence that led to this tragedy” as they seek accountability.
