How doctor’s negligence made me impotent

Thirty nine-year-old Sodiq Momoh is not a happy man. The father of five is upset for two reasons. First, he is unable to urinate through his male sex organ like a normal male, rather, he is only able to pass water with the aid of a catheter (rubber tube) that he carries around.

Second, and perhaps more agonising for Sodiq is his inability to initiate or sustain an erection.

“I used to be quite virile, but now, my male sex organ is lifeless and unable to function. As a result, I cannot engage in sexual intercourse. What is really paining me is that my wife is also not happy and is even threatening to leave me because I can no longer satisfy her sexually,” he disclosed to Saturday Vanguard in an interview.

 A butcher by profession, Sodiq, who hails from Oyo, in Oyo State, is blaming his woes on complications he suffered as a result of what he described as a medical doctor’s misconduct and professional negligence.

Appendectomy

Recounting his travails, Sodiq said it all began around February this year shortly after he approached the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho, in Oyo State, with a complaint of an inflamed appendix.

Following diagnosis of appendicitis, he recalled how he was promptly booked for an appendectomy (surgical removal of the appendix) at the hospital and how the procedure was successfully carried out. In his narration, Sodiq related how he got more than he bargained for shortly after the surgical procedure.

“My appendix was removed without incident, the operation was successfully completed at about 6.30pm, and around 11pm that same night, I was already up and moving around. Shortly aftewards, the doctor (name withheld) who carried out the appendectomy approached me for payment.

“I was surprised because I had already settled my bills at the pay point of the hospital before the procedure, but the doctor insisted I had to give him ‘something’, so I asked if I would get a receipt. He answered in the negative and, in turn, I refused to give in and an argument ensued.”

Abandoned catheter

Sodiq noted that for several hours after he was taken to the ward to recuperate, the catheter that was affixed to his private part to aid passage of urine post surgery was yet to be removed.

“From information I gathered, the catheter ought to have been removed within 24-48 hours of the operation, but when I was in pains in my private part, I called the doctor’s attention to the development, but I was shocked when he told me point blank that I would only be attended to when I was ready to accede to his request.

“His unwillingness to attend to me resulted to the catheter remaining in my body for as long as 144 hours. It was only after my private part had become swollen, bleeding and fluid coming out that the catheter was removed. Now, I urinate with great discomfort. I am always feeling a peppery sensation in my urethra, worse still, I am unable to have an erection. These were not complications of the surgery, but consequences of negligence.

Sodiq told Saturday Vanguard that he immediately took up the matter officially with authorities of the hospital, but several complaints yielded nothing as the response was not encouraging because all effort to compel those in charge to take responsibility and make amends for the misdemeanour amounted to nought.

Left with no other option, Sadiq consulted his solicitors who petitioned the hospital authorities . Copies of the petition, addressed to the Chief Medical Director, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho, were sent to the institution’s Director of Administration, Chairman Medical Advisory Committee and President, Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, MDCAN, Oyo State branch in Ibadan, as well as the President of the Association’s national body in Abuja.