An unidentified medication administered to a 19-year-old level 200 law student of the University of Ghana by a nurse at the Ewim Polyclinic in the Cape Coast Metropolis allegedly caused his death within two minutes.
According to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the deceased, Nana Obeng Owusu Junior, purportedly died instantly at about 19:00 hours on Monday after a nurse at Ewim Polyclinic only identified as Michael injected him with an unidentified medication.
To verify the reports of the mysterious death of the young law student, the news agency visited the Ewim Polyclinic and met a Nursing Manager and a senior administrator on duty on Saturday but the official declined to comment on the allegation.
“I’m not authorized to speak on issues like this. The right person to answer these claims is not around.
“By the way, who told you? You can come later, I won’t comment,” the GNA quotes the Nursing Manager and a senior administrator as saying amid surprise and discomfort.
The mother of the deceased, Nelly Mills recounted to the GNA that she took her son, who was an asthmatic patient to the facility for a nebulizer (a small machine that turns liquid medicine into a mist that can be easily inhaled) on the fateful day but didn’t imagine that he would die so mysteriously.
Below is her account to the GNA about what happened:
She said on reaching the facility, they went to the pharmacy unit but were directed to the emergency ward, which they obliged.
At the emergency unit, there was a misunderstanding between the deceased and Michael, and that was when Michael, who was irritated by their visit, yelled at them questioning “What you want, what do you want,” as if they were not allowed to visit the facility.
She said “Michael, in a seemingly unhappy voice, as if he was tired of caring for patients, shouted at us, something my son did not take kindly”.
Mrs Mills said she later left the emergency unit to buy a medication approved by Michael, leaving the deceased in the care of a younger sibling who had accompanied them.
Mrs Mills said immediately after she left, Michael injected the deceased with an unknown medication without checking his vitals, leading to his death in less than two minutes and left the scene.
Before the injection, Mrs Mills said the deceased was strongly making jokes with his brother but suddenly fell asleep after taking the injection, but the younger brother felt he was asleep until she returned to realise he was dead.
“I shouted for help repeatedly and called for help, but my son was long dead. Within two minutes after stepping out to buy his medication, my son died, and Michael confirmed he injected him.
“We only needed a nebuliser and not an injection which was written for me to buy, so why the injection? Besides, my son was not seriously ill but suffering from his routine asthma attack,” Mrs Mills said.
She further said the facility refused to release the body to her but swiftly arranged for a hearse and took the body to the University of Cape Coast morgue and embalmed the body without the concern of any family member.
She alleged, “We followed up to the morgue right after only to find out my son has been embalmed without my concern.
“The arrangement made by the hospital makes the death of my son a subject of investigation, and we will not relent to get to the bottom of this matter,” she stated.
Mrs Mills appealed to the Ghana Health Service and the security agencies to thoroughly investigate the cause of death and ensure that justice was served to the bereaved family.
Pulse.com.gh
