Margaret Mowalola Akinduntire, 65 has passed away in a distressing manner, and her family has accused the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, or LASUTH, of carelessness and needless delays in her care.
Her family claims that despite Akinduntire’s problems from a prior operation in which a surgical needle was allegedly left inside her body, her health worsened when LASUTH allegedly postponed a crucial medical procedure because of the Ramadan fasting season.
Her son described a ten-year journey that was characterised by numerous medical mistakes and delay. When Akinduntire had surgery to remove her right kidney in 2013, the family’s painful journey started.
She reported ongoing pain at the surgery location a year later. She sensed a sharp object at the surgery site. A surgical needle from the first treatment was discovered within her when they opened her up again without anaesthesia when we got to LASUTH, he claimed.
The family decided not to file a lawsuit at the time, despite how serious the error was. Following a successful leg procedure in 2024, they were diagnosed with fibroids and went back to the hospital to
have surgery right away.
However, the family claims doctors refused to proceed until after Ramadan, even though the fibroids had caused significant discomfort and health complications.
“She began to lose weight rapidly, her abdomen became severely bloated, and the delay in surgery pushed us to look elsewhere for help,” her son explained.
Akinduntire was briefly stabilised in a private clinic in Agege after being denied admission to a hospital because of a missing medical file.
The family used social media to try to intensify the situation, naming Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in a post. LASUTH located her paperwork and started treating her again shortly after.
Yet according to the family, internal sources later claimed that hospital staff had deliberately concealed the file. “They believed she was a hopeless case and did not want to waste their time,” her son said.
Despite renewed attention and intervention, Akinduntire died on Wednesday at the hospital’s Surgical Emergency Unit without receiving the surgery that might have saved her life.
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The administration of LASUTH vehemently denied any misconduct in response to the allegations. Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, the Chief Medical Director, rejected the family’s allegations as “baseless” and “untrue.”
Prof. Adebowale Adekoya defended this position by stating that the patient’s family had been kept regularly updated over the course of therapy and that the procedures had, in fact, taken place during Ramadan.
