NBA Conference 2019: Medical Practitioners And The Thoughts Of Witch-Hunting By Olatunde Fasanya, Esq.

The 2019 edition of the Annual General Conference (AGC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has been scheduled to hold between 23rd and 29th August, 2019.

The conference, hosted by the Lagos Branch is themed “FACING THE FUTURE”, will hold at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Conference will address issues around the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, access to justice and protection of fundamental human rights, the economy and how to pilot the present to assure a better future. The theme “Facing the Future” is borne out of the pressing need to invest in a sustainable foundation for an optimistic future.

It’s noteworthy that “Medical Negligence: Time to Change the Narrative” is just a topic of one of the plenary sessions at the Annual Conference amongst the thirty-nine (39) plenaries. All topics are aimed at achieving the focus for this 2019 edition of the Conference.

This is against the notion nurtured by our medical practictoners and allied workers that the legal experts are aimed at hunting them in their field of work.

Medical Law is just one area amongst the diverse areas of law. There’s law in all profession and on every thing that could be thought of. Hence, a reason law as a field legislates, contributes and adjudicated in all matter, and a reason lawyers are learned beyond their profession.

The other 38 plenary sessions are also on diverse areas of human endeavours as they relate to the legal profession.

The 2019 NBA Conference places the NBA Sections and their respective specialist committee sessions at the heart of the conference programme for capacity building. Lawyers will have a real opportunity to focus on their areas of interest and benefit from exposure to emerging practice areas to be better equipped and reinforced to Face the Future.

Medical and the Law Committee of the NBA will manage the the plenary on Medical Law which will be the 18th session at the Conference, to last for 90 minutes, and would be having lawyers and medical professionals on the panel.

Laolu Osanyin (Vice President, World Association for Medical Law) as the Plenary Moderator; with other panelists such as Dr. Francis Faduyile (President, NMA – Nigerian Medical Association), Abiodun Olayiwole (Editor-in-Chief, Nigeria Medical Law Report); Akinyemi Sofiyyullah Oladipo (Managing Partner, Nimble Solicitors), Dr. Joel Akande (Strategic Insight Healthcare, The Hospital Ltd.) and Alex Muoka (Managing Partner, A. Muoka & Co.) will be anchoring this session.

These as seen are not just legal practitioners but also having leaders in the medical practice to dissect and discuss on the chosen topic. Below is the brief profile of these persons.

Laolu Osanyin LLM, MCLM, CHP is the the Chair of the Medicine and Law Committee of the NBA’s Section of Law Practice. He is an internationally renowned Medicolegal Consultant and Vice President of the World Association of Medical Law (WAML), ‘Laolu is currently the first and only African on the Board of Governors of the World Association for Medical Law (WAML) which is the Medicolegal Advisory Council to the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Criminal Court (ICC). He is a member of the American College of Legal Medicine and also a member of the Global Panel of Health Law Experts. Osanyin serves on the Board of the Nigerian National Health Research Ethics Committee (NHREC), and until recently he served on the Ethics Committee of the American College of Legal Medicine. He is the Founder and Convener of the Nigerian Medical Law Summit, Laolu is the Head of the Medicolegal Unit of Medical Tutors which is accredited by the Medical and Dental Council as a continuing medical education provider. He is the Chief Counsel of First Counsel Solicitors a Medicolegal Consultancy Firm.

Dr. Francis Faduyile (MBBS MSC MBA FMCPath FMCPath-ESCA DipFHID) is the President Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). He was the former Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of NMA and a lecturer at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH. He is a Pathologist, skilled in Forensic Medicine and is an alumnus of the University of Lagos. Faduyile is an experienced Lecturer with a demonstrated history of working in the medical practice industry. Skilled in Clinical Research, Medical Education, Cytopathology, Forensic Pathology, Epidemiology, and Medicine. Strong healthcare services professional with a Diploma, Forensic Human Identification. (DipFHID) focused in Forensic Medicine from Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine, UK.

Mr. Abiodun Olayiwole is the Editor-in-Chief of Nigeria Medical Law Report. Former Unit Head of the Medical Disciplinary Tribunal Unit of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). He is a Former Director of the Legal Unit of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). A retired Head of the Department of Administration and Human Resources of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).

Mr. Akinyemi Sofiyyullah Oladipo graduated from the University of Lagos (2006), Upon his call to bar (2007) and mandatory youth service (2009), he joined the law firm of Gani Adetola Kaseem (SAN) & Co where he was exposed to medico-legal aspects of practice. He served as legal adviser to the Medical and Dental Practitioners Investigating Panel and was actively involved, over a period of 8 years in the investigations of several medical negligence cases. He also prosecuted medical negligence cases before the Medical and Dental Disciplinary Tribunal. He was counsel to the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) where he handled a lot of medico-legal documentation and transactions for the Institute and College. He has also been involved in handling cases for the Medical and Health Worker of Nigeria, and the Joint Health workers Union. He is a member of the NBA Section of Legal Practice and the World Association of Medical Law (WAML).

Dr. Joel Akande obtained his primary medical training at the College of Medicine at the University of Lagos. Almost immediately, he started his postgraduate studies in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1991. He studied and specialized in Reproductive Endocrinology at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He left Geneva for the United Kingdom and Ireland where, he enrolled in the residency program of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and as a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, he served in several hospitals in UK and Ireland during his training years. Joel Akande, a multi-talented physician, and fertility specialist studied law (LLB, University of London, 2006), business management, and information technology (MBA, University of Leicester, UK, 2004). Dr. Akande, due to his many interests, during his time in the UK, worked for a long time in Psychiatry (Mental Health). He has written 10 published books covering diverse subjects. A versatile writer with a passion for public and individual empowerment, Joel is a weekly health columnist in The Nation Newspaper and a contributor to several online articles. The author of “Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence: Consumer Rights & Provider’s Responsibilities”, is a natural strategist and is well-traveled. In addition to being a public speaker, Joel is a medico-legal consultant. He currently manages Strategic Insight Healthcare (The Hospital), in Magodo, Lagos, Nigeria.

Alex Muoka is a litigation and transaction lawyer and the Managing Partner of A. Muoka & Co. – a Lagos-based commercial and litigation law firm. He is a past Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association-Lagos Branch. He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Lagos State University, a Master of Laws degree from the University of Lagos, and was called to the Bar in 1991. He is a Trustee of the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership, and is active in pro bono criminal defense litigation. He has spoken recently on compliance obligations of the Corporate Affairs Commission, witness preparation, etiquette, defamation, medical ethics and litigation avoidance, and the Freedom of Information Act.

I hope our medical professional colleagues can see that this plenary is a joint session of both the medics and legal minds.

* Olatunde Fasanya is a legal Practitioner.