By Adesina Soyooye
Following the statement issued by the Management of Euracare Multispecislist Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria, the health facility where Nkanu Nnamdi, one of the twin sons of award winning writer, Chimamanda and her husband Dr. Ivara Esege died, the deceased aunt and family doctor,
Anthea Nwandu, has put a lie to the Hospital’s public presentation.
In a statement in response to Chimamanda’s narration of how Nnamdi died which she attributed to negligence after an overdose of propofol by the hospital’s anaesthesiologist,
Euracare Management stressed that it followed standard procedures in its handling of the case.
But Dr Nwandu, in a statement on Sunday, disagreed with the hospital’s statement.
The Hospital had claimed that the deceased, who was critically ill, was referred to Euracare for “specific diagnostic procedures” after he had spent more than a week receiving treatment at two paediatric facilities.
The Hospital’s Management,
explained that when the deceased arrived, its medical team immediately provided care in line with established clinical protocols and internationally accepted medical standards. This included the administration of sedation where medically indicated.
It, also said the hospital worked closely with external medical teams recommended by the family, and ensured that all required clinical support was provided throughout the period of care. It, however, regretted that: “Despite these concerted efforts, the patient sadly passed away less than 24 hours after presenting at our facility.”
But Dr. Nwandu, a dual board-certified Internal Medicine physician with 30 years of global clinical experience both in Nigeria and the United States, put a lie to the Hospital’s claim that Nnamdi had been taken to two other pediatric hospitals before he arrived Euracare.
She said: “This is false. He was in one hospital before coming to Euracare for the procedures.”
She, also faulted the hospital’s acclaimed international standards and explained, with questions that “a child on oxygen, who is given sedation, must have continuous oxygen therapy. Did Euracare do this? No.
“They confirmed this verbally to me when I went to the hospital to question the doctors.
“International standards demand that the child should have continuous monitoring of oxygen levels in his blood. Did Euracare do this? No.
“International standards demand continuous monitoring of pulse and respiration. Did Euracare do this? No.
“International standards demand that when moving the child from one part of the hospital to another, the child must be accompanied by resuscitative equipment in case he stops breathing (a known risk of anaesthesia). This can easily be done with a simple apparatus called an ambu bag. Did Euracare do this? No.”
Dr. Nwandu said that because there was no monitoring, it was impossible to accurately document when the child stopped breathing or how long he had no pulse before resuscitation.
She asked:
“Is it an international standard for an anaesthesiologist to carry a child post-sedation on his shoulder, unable to visually see the child, with absolutely no monitoring, while insisting that he alone would be in the elevator with the child? No.
“To transfer the child to the ICU, the anaesthesiologist disconnected his oxygen and again carried him on his shoulder. Is that standard practice? No.”
She re-emphasised that the child was medically stable and had been booked for a scheduled medical evacuation flight to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA, when the negligence, in an inexplicable twist of fate occurred.
Nnamdi passed on January 6, 2026, under circumstances which left not a few Nigerians outraged.
