Mother of four detained in LUTH for owing N1m, dies there

A mother of four, Mrs Folake Oduyoye has died after she was allegedly detained by the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos for being unable to settle her bill of N1million. She died in the hospital.

The deceased, 32, was only able to pay N300,000 out of N1.3 million bill.
The woman’s husband, Mr Adeyemi Oduyoye, said LUTH management prevented his wife from accessing needed treatment to address complications from a caesarean session.
This, according to him, led to her death. Oduyoye, a printer, said his wife went for a caesarean session at a private hospital but was referred to LUTH on September 7.
According to him, the woman died from cough-related illness at LUTH on December 13 while her body was deposited at the morgue of the hospital.
Contacted, the LUTH Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mrs Hope Nwawolo, said the deceased was treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) equipped with state-of-the-art equipment.
She said: “If it were a private hospital that treated her in an ICU for 31 days, she would get very high bill.”
But Oduyoye said his wife died following negligence and failure of LUTH management to either continue with the treatment or release her for treatment at another health facility.
He said the deceased was in the process of giving birth to their fourth child when she went into the theatre for a caesarean session at Midas Touch, a private health facility in Lagos.
However, she came out with infections which required advanced surgery as a result of accumulation of pus within. Consequently, she was taken to LUTH for treatment.