THE management of the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, has insisted that the family of the late Isiaka Adeleke did not request that the hospital should carry out an autopsy on the corpse of the late politician because the death was a coroner’s case.

“It needs to be stressed that the sudden death of any person at home is a coroner case that must be investigated by the Police. In a situation like that, the family no longer has a say in the matter,” the LAUTECH said.

The management also debunked the claim of the family that one of them wrote a letter of authorisation to the hospital to carry out a post-mortem and paid a fee for it.

The hospital, in a statement issued by Ayodele Adeyemo, its public relations officer, made available to Realnews magazine, challenged the Adeleke family to produce the letter of authorisation.

The hospital said its pathologists conducted the autopsy in the most professional way and that there was no political interest behind what they worked.

In the nine-point explanation, Adeyemo said that with the completion of forms B and C by the coroner, the investigation into the death had gone beyond a family issue to become a criminal investigation being conducted by the state.

The statement said in part: “The death of the late senator was first brought to the attention of the management by the Medical Director of Biket Hospital, where the senator’s body was first taken to. The body was met at the LAUTECH hospital with some family members and law enforcement agents, including homicide detectives from the Nigeria Police.

“The homicide detectives handed the relevant coroner papers (forms B and C) to the hospital’s pathologist, the only authorised professional in charge of autopsy, in the presence of the family members.

“It is very important to state categorically that with the completion of forms B and C of the police, ab initio, it is clear that the issue of autopsy is beyond a family wanting to know the cause of death. The import is that the autopsy has become a full criminal investigation into the death. It needs to be stressed that the sudden death of any person at home is a coroner case that must be investigated by the police.  In a situation like that, the family no longer has a say in the matter.

“In line with global practice and in a case like the above, such reports are not given to the family because they could be regarded as potential suspects that should not be allowed to have a prior knowledge of the findings of the investigation. The full autopsy report was not even made available to the management of the hospital because the law does not permit the pathologist to do so.

“The so-called authorisation by one Mrs Dupe Adeleke-Sanni as disclosed by the family could not have been the case as the autopsy became a coroner’s case as stated above. What Mrs Dupe Adeleke-Sanni wrote after the completion of the autopsy was what she called a ‘Certificate of Honour’ to the hospital with following content, ‘On behalf of the Adeleke family, I, Mrs Dupe Sanni, hereby certify that the family is satisfied and confirm our confidence in the pathology examination conducted by the pathologist at the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, on Senator Isiaka Adeleke, and we are, therefore, not interested  in requesting for a repeat of the examination in any other hospital.’”

“On payment of fee for autopsy, LAUTECH Hospital, like all other hospitals, works round the clock, tests, drugs and procedures can be done and be paid for at any time of the day. Indeed, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo has a fully functional automated payment system that will issue receipts instantly. The truth is that NO PAYMENT WAS MADE by the Adeleke family to the hospital for the autopsy. It is clearly an attempt to smear the hospital to suggest that hospital which runs Children and Adult emergencies could not issue a receipt for payment made on a Sunday.

“On the allegation of refusal to give tissue (sample) by the hospital, suffice to say that if the family of the deceased are keenly interested in obtaining the samples for autopsy by other agencies/ hospitals, it behoves on them to apply to the coroner for that. The hospital challenges the family to provide a previous letter of application for tissues which was reportedly rejected by the hospital.”

Concluding, the hospital said it discharged its professional duties ethically and that the management was proud of the conduct of the hospital’s team.

Nevertheless, it said: “We commiserate with the Adeleke family, the people of the great town of Ede and ,indeed, the entire people of Nigeria on the death of this illustrious son.

“His death was very painful to many people.  We in the hospital who were saddled with the responsibility of not just mourning him, but also investigating the cause of his sudden death did our job under very difficult circumstances.  We restate that our conduct was strictly based on professional principles. The hospital is devoid of other interest.”

—  Jun 5, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT