By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
Lagos-based Surgeon and Medical Director of MedContour Clinic, Dr Anuoluwapo Adepoju has suffered another setback, as she is now suspended from medical practice by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), following the failure of plastic surgery performed on her patient who eventually died.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), a body charged with the responsibility of ensuring quality of consumer products and services, confirmed the suspension of Dr Adepoju in a statement on Monday.
Dr Anuoluwapo Adepoju was arrested over the death of one of her patients and charged alongside her Clinic, MedContour Services Ltd, before Justice Mohammed Liman of a Federal High Court, Lagos on a five count charge bordering on refusal to honour an invitation for investigation as well as production of investigation document. Following the incident, her facility was shut down.
In the statement, the FCCPC lauded the MDCN’s decision to impose interim measures suspending the accused surgeon “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,”
“The Commission finds all such actions or measures commendable. This outcome, interim as it were, validates and reinforces the proprietary of joint or dual regulatory engagement as the Commission always advocates.
“The initiation of robust consumer protection regulatory intervention in the case has catalysed other relevant and appropriate action.
“The Commission commends and appreciates the stellar and robust work, as well as timely disposition in resolving this case in a manner that respects and protects the rights of the service provider, specific citizens who have become otherwise dissatisfied with the services they received, and the public at large.
“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. Other regulatory actions continue in due course.”
The sanction by MDCN on Anuoluwapo comes after she had defended herself and blamed the complications suffered by the deceased patient on her flouting of post-surgery rules.