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General News of Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Source: daily post

Patient dies because surgeon refuses to operate on him

MORE ROT AT KATH: Patient dies because surgeon refuses to operate on him

The mystery of the missing baby believed to have been stolen at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) from the mother soon after birth has opened a can of worms about the rot that has characterised the activities of some of the doctors and nurses at this medical facility.

While claims that a baby stealing syndicates operates at the hospital is gaining grounds, the ‘Daily Post’ has stumbled upon the wickedness and unprofessional conduct of a doctor of the hospital which led to the death of a patient on Wednesday, Febrary 19, 2014.

The patient, one Solomon Mensah, was admitted to the Accident & Emergency ward of the hospital after having been diagnosed as having strangulated inguinal hernia which is said to be a dire surgical emergency case. A surgeon, Dr. Adam Gyedu initially attended to the patient the day after he was admitted to the hospital and offered to operate on him but asked the relatives of the patients to see him (what for? Extortion?) The relatives turned later. One of them was a medical student called Edwin Osei. Obviously, because of the presence of Edwin, Dr. Gyedu could not tell the relatives why he had asked them to come and see him. He simply insructed his trainee, Dr. Adu Gyamfi, to send the patient to the operating room for the surgery. However when it was time for the surgery, Dr. Gyedu was nowhere to be found. Phone calls from his trainee went unanswered even though he is said to have admitted later seeing the missed calls. Even worse, Dr. Gyedu also failed to inform his colleague surgeon (who could have operated on the patient) of his inability to operate on the patient. The following Friday, Febraury 21, 2014, Dr. Gyedu arrived at the operating room early in the morning to operate on some non-emergency cases. Noting the deteriorating condition of patient Solomon Mensah, the nurse Anaesthetist, who this paper learnt is called James, pleaded with Dr. Gyedu to first attend to the emergency. The surgeon refused. This resulted in a heated argument and almost into fisticuffs between the surgeon and the anaesthetist. The surgeon stood his grounds and while operating on the non-emergency cases, Solomon Mensah passed away, leaving his family in pain and sorrow. Dr. Gyedu is said to have reported himself to the Head of Department, Prof. Ohene Yeboah who is incidentally his role model. Many opine that as a result of the relationship between the two, Dr. Gyedu will have no questions to answer.

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