Medical Negligence: Medical law centre seeks justice for victims, legal reforms

Founder and Executive Director of the Molluma Yakubu Centre for Medical Law, Gloria Ballason, has called for urgent legislative reforms to ensure justice for victims of medical negligence in Nigeria.

She and other lawyers made the call on Thursday in Abuja during her organisation’s medico-legal book presentation and 10th annual lecture. The lecture was themed ‘Medical Confidentiality: Balancing Patient Privacy and Legal Accountability.’

The book, ‘Medico-legal Practice and Justice: The Intersection of Law and Justice’ was edited by Ms Ballason. The book was reviewed by Yahaya Dangana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) at the event.

To support her point on the need for urgent legal reforms, Ms Ballason cited instances of medical negligence in both public and private hospitals in Nigeria, where families have continued to seek justice for many years.

She shared the ironical story of the medical negligence-related death of a close friend of hers.

According to Ms Ballason, her centre was named after the friend who idied because of medical negligence despite having completed her master’s thesis on the subject.

Ms Ballason, a lawyer whose centre takes on medical malpractice legally and seeks accountability for mass atrocities, also recalled that the deceased came from a family of many doctors and nurses.

She emphasised that her friend’s passing underscores the harsh reality that no one is immune to the dangers of medical negligence, regardless of their connections within the healthcare profession.

3 million death annually

Around 1 in every 10 patients is harmed from safety lapses during their health care, leading to more than 3 million deaths annually across the world, a World Health Organisation (WHO) factsheet published in September last year.

According to the WHO factsheet, major sources of patient harm include medication errors, surgical errors, healthcare-associated infections, diagnostic errors, patient falls, and venous thromboembolism (blot clots).

They also include pressure ulcers (injuries to the skin or soft tissue), unsafe transfusion, patient misidentification, unsafe injection practices, and sepsis – a serious condition that happens when the body’s immune system has an extreme response to an infection.

Referencing the WHO data, Ms Ballason decried the alarming rate of harm suffered by patients, adding that “the probability of being harmed in an African hospital is 20 times higher than the global average”.

Need for reforms, accountability

Advocating the need for legislative action, Ms Ballason stressed the urgency of legal accountability in saving lives and enhancing healthcare systems.

She called for a cultural shift towards transparency and responsibility among healthcare providers and institutions, citing successful models from countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, renowned for stringent medical accountability laws.

“These rights are crucial for transparency, accountability, and seeking closure in situations where understanding the cause of death is essential,” she stressed.

Ms Ballason noted that countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and many European countries have firm laws in place for medical accountability.

“It is no coincidence that these countries are top medical tourism destinations,” she said.

She maintained that legal accountability for deaths caused by medical negligence “is crucial, not just for saving lives but for improving our healthcare systems.”

She stressed the need for Nigeria to adopt international standards such as the International Health Regulation (2005), the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, WHO’s Patient Safety Initiatives, and the International Code of Medical Ethics of the World Medical Association.

“All death reports need to be as clear and as detailed as medical reports. Nigerians deserve to know the actual cause of death and not the approximate cause of death,” she added.

She also called for a culture of responsibility and transparency within the healthcare system, emphasising that clinical decisions must comply with the operable standard of care expected by law.

Similarly, former Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Onje Gye-Wado, called for enhancements of legal frameworks governing medical confidentiality.

He said there was a need for comprehensive legislation that balances patients’ rights with healthcare providers’ responsibilities.

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“The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) excludes personal or medical information from disclosure,” he said, stressing the importance of protecting patients’ privacy.

The book reviewer, Mr Dangana, criticised medical negligence and the role of some lawyers in defending negligent medical practitioners.

He called on lawyers to act according to their conscience and the oath they have taken, especially in cases of negligence resulting in death.

The book was unveiled by Martin Okey, the representative of the Chairman of the House Committee on Health Institutions, in the presence of dignitaries.