Patient Drags Doctor To Court For Detaining Her, Car over N480, 000 Childbirth Bill

A nursing mother, Peace Onu, and her husband, Uche, have dragged a medical practitioner, Dr Alfred Nwoyeocha before the Kaduna State High Court over her alleged detention due to her family’s inability to pay up the N480,000 bill allegedly incurred during childbirth through caesarean section.

The couple is demanding N32 million as compensation for the breach of their rights from the doctor and  Maneks Hospital Limited for alleged negligence, confiscation of peace’s car valued N4.6m and for carrying out illegal surgery on her without her consent.

Nwoyeocha and his medical facility were named as the first and second defendants, respectively in the suit before Justice Hannatu Balogun.

In an affidavit attached to the suit, Peace claimed that no explanation was given as to why her baby was unilaterally taken to a third-party incubator at the Haose Hospital at the cost of N261,000, when the baby was not registered there.

The defendant was also accused of handling her case incompetently and exposing her to risks.

Peace was an employee of the Maneks Hospital Limited, where she also had her six-year-old child through caesarean section, and her mother signed the consent form on the instructions of her husband.

But her appointment was terminated on March 11, 2019.

Peace and Uche, the a suit filed by their lawyer, Ikem Lawrence, alleged that in 2013 and on November 20, 2018, Onu went for surgery in respect of preeclampsia (a condition that pregnant women develop and is marked by high blood pressure in women who haven’t had it before), and in breach of Nwoyeocha’s duty to her, she was “negligently and unskilfully” treated.

However, in his statement of defence filed by his lawyer, Valentine Ajibo, the doctor denied most of the claims.

He described the suit as incompetent and that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it.

The defendant also argued that the case should be dismissed with substantial cost awarded against the complainant.

Nwoyeocha further submitted that “The plaintiffs’ claims are frivolous, lacking in merit, gold-digging and targeted at attracting sympathy from the court into granting their unmerited claims.”

The case has been adjourned till November 13, 2019 for further hearing by Justice Balogun.