Flowing from the report received since late last year in China, the Covid – 19 has started spreading around the world and the World Health Organization has declared it as a pandemic. However, the preventive measures against the spread of this virus have been stated such as strictly adhere to social distancing and to avoid all non-essential travel to all countries.
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The Nigerian Government since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Nigeria has been warning the Nigerian citizens against the spread of this infectious disease and gave directives that all social gatherings should be suspended during the pendency of Covid-19.
Kwara State Government despite the fact that it has not recorded any Covid-19 case also had earlier banned gatherings of more than 25 persons, commercial transportation, and declared on Thursday 26 March, 2020 the closure of all mosques and churches, and markets of non-essential commodities, and that all civil servants in the state are to work from their homes.
The first case of Covid – 19 in Kwara State was reported on Monday 6th April, 2020. The report revealed the fact that a patient was admitted at University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital on the night of Wednesday April 1st 2020 and later died in the hospital on 2nd of April, 2020. The deceased patient was reported to died of Covid – 19 which was known to one senior consultant in the said hospital to the case was concealed until the wife of the deceased patient tested positive for Covid – 19 and announced on Monday by the Kwara State Covid – 19 Technical Committee.
It is very unfortunate that many staff of UITH who were on duty had close contact with the deceased and his wife before the case got known to the public.
It is very unethical and and also a professional negligence and misconduct from the part of the said Senior Consultant who concealed the nature of disease that led to death of the deceased.
The act is said to amount to medical negligence where a medical professional deviates from the accepted medical standard of care or neglect to provide appropriate treatment, omits to take an appropriate action or gives substandard treatment that causes harm, injury or death to patient. In consideration of what medical negligence negligence means with the case of the deceased patient in UITH, it is obvious that the Senior Consultant failed to refer the deceased patient to Isolation centre since he as a professional has discovered the nature of the disease (Covid – 19) and kept on giving the deceased a substandard treatment which caused death to patient.One of factors that constitute medical negligence was stated in the case of of Akintade v Chairman Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (MDPDT) (2005) 9 NWLR (pt. 930) 338 p.5 which is failure to refer or transfer a patient in good time when such a referral or transfer was necessary.
The second leg of the matter falls within Medical misconduct.
Medical and dental practitioners are expected at all times to safeguard the patient and the public and to work against any incompetent or unethical practitioners in the country.
Section 9(b) of Code of conduct of Medical Professional provides for general principles of the ethics of medical and dental practices in Nigeria.
Practitioners have a responsibility in promoting not only individual health and but also the general health of the community and in pressing for equitable alllocation of health resources.
E- medical and dental practitioners shall try to all times to safeguard the public public, the medical and dental professions against incompetent or unethical practitioners and should expose without hesitation, any instance of professional malpractice and misconduct in a professional respect to the Medical and Dental of Nigeria.
The professional misconduct of the said senior consultant in admitting the deceased patient whom was suffering from COVID 19 in UITH and his paternal failure to inform other doctors and staffs who may have contact with the deceased while attending to him, and releasing the corpse to his relatives without informating them that the deceased died as a result of coronavirus.
The Medical and Dental Practitioners Act LFN 2004 has provided the penalty for Whosoever involves him or herself in any professional misconduct.
Section
- Has Established Disciplinary Tribunal and Investigation Panel to investigate any professional misconduct
(1) There shall be established a tribunal to be known as the Medical and
Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (in this Act referred to as “the
Disciplinary Tribunal”), which shall be charged with the duty of considering and
determining any case referred to it by the Panel established under subsection (3)
of this section and any other case of which the Disciplinary Tribunal has
cognizance under the following provisions of this Act.
- Penalties for professional misconduct, etc.
(1) Where —
(a) a registered person is adjudged by the Disciplinary Tribunal to be guilty of
infamous conduct in any professional respect; or
(b) a registered person is convicted, by any Court of Law or Tribunal in Nigeria or
elsewhere having power to impose imprisonment, for an offence (whether or not
an offence punishable with imprisonment) which in the opinion of the
Disciplinary Tribunal is incompatible with the status of a medical practitioner or
dental surgeon, as the case may be; or
(c) the Disciplinary Tribunal is satisfied that the name of any person has been
fraudulently registered,
the Disciplinary Tribunal may, if it thinks fit, give any of the directions specified
in subsection (2) of this section.
(2) The Disciplinary Tribunal may give a direction under subsection (1) of this
section —
(a) ordering the Registrar to strike the person’s name off the relevant register or
registers; or
(b) suspending the person from practice by ordering him not to engage in practice
as medical practitioner or dental surgeon, as the case may be, for such period not
exceeding six months as may be specified in the direction; or
(c) admonishing that person.
(3) The Disciplinary Tribunal may if it thinks fit, defer or further defer its decision
as to the giving of a direction under subsection (1) of this section until a
subsequent meeting of the disciplinary committee; but—
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