Popular Lagos plastic surgeon suspended over botched surgery

A controversial Lagos plastic surgeon, Anuoluwapo Adepoju, whose services allegedly resulted in the death of her patient, Nneka Onwuzuligbo, has been indefinitely suspended by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).

MDCN took the interim disciplinary action against Ms Adepoju, owner of Med-Contour, a plastic surgery hospital, on Monday, pending the determination of her case with its disciplinary tribunal.

The plastic surgeon allegedly operated on the late Onwuzuligbo, a 2013 winner of Face of Democracy Transformation in Nigeria, at a medical facility on December 31, 2018.

The news of her patient’s death first went viral in February 2019.

Ms Adepoju is also currently being investigated over suspicion of illegal activities and alleged evasion from an investigation into the failed plastic surgery.

She is also charged with failure to comply with a summons by The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

With the charges, nonetheless, Ms Adepoju continues to showcase photos and videos of her numerous cosmetic surgeries, ‘positive’ feedbacks, and patient transformations on her hospital’s Instagram handle which boasts over 74,000 followers.

The self-confessed body contour specialist and mother of two is also an Instagram celebrity who openly flaunts her curves.

FCCPC

Reacting to the development, FCCPC said it welcomed MDCN’s decision to impose interim measures suspending the plastic surgeon indefinitely from practicing medicine pending full and final disposition of disciplinary proceedings.

‘‘Every action, whether interim or final that prevents the risk of injury to patients/consumers and or mitigates the pain and suffering of citizens on account of injury by manufacturers or service providers is an important component of a larger effort to protect citizens.

‘’This is a demonstration that the system works and can endure, as well as inure to the benefit of society. Whether patient care or good manufacturing, ultimately, the highest responsibility is to consumers. We, as regulators, must hold producers and providers accountable to that obligation,’’ Ondaje Ijagwu, the agency’s spokesman, said in a statement issued on Monday.

More woes

The Lagos University Teaching Hospital had urged the Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Investigation Panel to investigate the alleged professional misconduct of the Lagos plastic surgeon.

The hospital, in a petition dated June 11, 2020, and signed by its Director of Legal Services, O. O. Olajide, accused Ms Adepoju of professional misconduct during a surgery she performed on Ms Onwuzuligbo at her facility.

According to LUTH, Ms Adepoju had continued to perform surgeries despite the fact that her facility was sealed off by the Lagos State Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency.

In an affidavit attached to the petition, the hospital alleged that she (suspect) referred the victim from her facility to LUTH on January 3, 2019, on the pretext that she was being referred from the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island.

The victim, according to the affidavit deposed to by a consultant surgeon, Andrew Ugburo, was presented to LUTH with severe respiratory distress and septicemia with infected surgical wounds.

Mr Ugburo further deposed that the victim developed multiple organ failure of cardiac, respiratory and renal failures.

He also said the patient had a cardiac arrest “on the 31st day of admission”, adding that after cardio-pulmonary resuscitation was unsuccessful, the victim was certified dead around 9 a.m. on February 3, 2019.