A professor of internal medicine at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Kazeem Salami, has been suspended for allegedly concealing vital information about a 57-year-old suspected COVID-19 patient who was on admission at the tertiary hospital.
In a statement, the management of the hospital said: “A 57-year-old male, was brought into the UITH’s accident and emergency department on the night of Wednesday, April 1st, 2020 in company of one of the hospital’s internal medicine (a specialist in infectious disease) with history of abdominal discomfort, stooling following ingestion of rotten pineapples. He was then admitted and managed as a ‘case of food poisoning. The patient later died in the early hours of the following day, 2nd April, 2020.”
The management said it got to know about the patient’s travel history from anonymous callers after the corpse was released burial.
“Following the patient’s death and release of his corpse to the managing professor (who happens to be his relative) for immediate burial (in accordance with Islamic rites) the hospital management received several anonymous calls disclosing information of recent travels by the patient and his wife UK and having been on self-isolation on arrival to Ilorin prior to presentation at A&E (on the advice of the professor who brought him), information that was concealed from the frontline medical personnel at first contact in the A&E, an act that the hospital’s management considered highly unethical hospital,” it stated.
Consequently, the hospital a statement issued on Monday evening by its director of administration, Mr. David Odaibo, said the management approved Salami’s suspension sequel to his conduct in the management of the COVID-19 patient.
“The Management of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital hereby suspends Prof A.K. Salami as a Senior Consultant in the hospital. “This is as a result of his unethical conduct in the admission, management and eventual release of the corpse of a suspected COVID-19 patient who died in the hospital on the 3rd of April, 2020,” the statement read in parts
