Patients Dying Owing To Inability To Buy Drugs – ATBUTH CMD Says

BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, ABUJA – The Chief Medical Director of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi, Dr Yusuf Bara Jibrin has said that most patients admitted in the hospital are dying as a result of their inability to buy prescribed drugs.

Dr Jibrin stated this against the backdrop of allegations that patients who visit the hospital for treatment die as a results of negligence on the part of some of the doctors.

The CMD specifically said that some of the patients die due to lack of funds for the required treatment, stressing that 50 percent of the patients that visit the hospital cannot afford to pay for their medical bills.

Jibrin stated these on Tuesday when he led a committee known as the ‘League of Friends of ATBUH’ on a courtesy visit to the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bauchi.

The CMD further said; “You will write drugs for a patient to buy and sometimes they will not buy the drugs until hours later because of no money. Sometimes, they will have to source for the money by selling their valuables to raise that money. At that time, it may have been a little late.

“If you say you want to assist one person, then others too will take advantage of that and it is not possible to assist everybody. I am a Consultant, I know what we as doctors are experiencing. If there is a case of death in the hospital, the doctor on call that day will not sleep because he has to give explanations to the panel of the hospital. What happened that resulted to that person’s death?

“Attending to the needs of patients in the hospital can be very demanding to the extent that some doctors usually collapse, some even die of sudden death because they don’t have the time to take care of themselves. It does not mean that doctors will not do their work, because they are the ones that chose to become doctors.

“The work of a doctor can be challenging. Sometimes, you don’t even have time for your family. So, it is not true that doctors at the ATBUTH neglect their duties,” Jibrin added.

He further said; “If it is discovered that a doctor deliberately neglected his duty which resulted to the death of a patient, an investigation will be launched into the case and if found guilty, that doctor will be punished accordingly. The doctor can even lose his certificate if there is any case of negligence on his part”.

Earlier, the Chairman of the ATBUTH League of Friends, Nuru Adamu Jumba said that the aim of the visit was to intimate the NUJ members on the existence of the League, its functions and achievements recorded over the years.

Jumba said that the League was established 10 years ago when the State Specialist hospital was taken over by the Federal Government with the intention of making it a teaching hospital, adding that in the past, people were not patronizing the hospital owing to misinformation.

Responding, the Chairman of the Bauchi State NUJ, Umar Saidu assured that members of the Union will work with ATBUTH and the League of Friends in order to sensitize the general public on the workings of the hospital.