Accepting responsibility for one's actions

I received the sad news recently of my cousin's passing in Nigeria. I was not aware that she had been ill or involved in any accidents so naturally I was quite shocked. Speaking with my mother and other relatives, I realised that the shock was felt across the family and everyone asked the same question: why and what happened?

I learnt later that Femi (my cousin) had been receiving fertility treatments at a leading IVF centre in Abuja and had complained one night of abdominal pains. She had been rushed to the hospital where she died shortly after. No explanations were provided by the hospital to her distraught husband and relatives.

Given that Femi was in her thirties and in otherwise good health, relatives insisted that an autopsy be performed to explain what went wrong. Her body was moved to one of the leading government hospitals in Abuja for an autopsy but when the family was told they would have to pay N 150,000 (about $1,200), the family reconsidered and has subsequently buried the corpse. The matter was thus settled and my family is grieving in silence.

I would probably not think more of this, but several things struck me about this: why would an IVF treatment centre lose an otherwise healthy patient and not want to find out what went wrong? Why is there no body - government or professional asking questions about this? Why did a grieving family have to pay such a price to find out whether a hospital or doctor failed in their duty of care? I subsequently learnt that the owner of the fertility clinic is also a senior officer of the government hospital where the autopsy was supposed to be performed. Could this be why the cost was so high? Was there an effort to protect the hospital involved in this death?

I am deeply disappointed in the way the system has failed my family in this case. I think that we deserve to hear what happened without the additional injustice of paying for the answers. Not just because it will ease our pain, but because this may contribute to saving someone else's life and sparing another family the grief we feel.

I think there is responsibility to be borne by the medical professionals involved in this case. This is one of those periods when I am ashamed to be associated with healthcare in Nigeria.