Harrowing tales of Nigerians who seek medical treatment abroad

It is common knowledge across the country today that many Nigerians troop to India for medical treatment due to their quest for better service delivery. What many may not know is the harvest of deaths resulting from these trips and the harrowing tales of survivors who are scammed at home and abroad by quacks in their desperation to survive.

In 2010, Miss Tina Ezeogidi started the battle to save her life. She was urinating blood and her doctor advised her to seek medical at­tention abroad. Part of that advice was a refer­ral to a hospital in India.
Determined to live, she sold all and closed her bank accounts to raise the about N2mil­lion needed. She got the shock of her life when much later, she realised she could get the same treatment for half the cost. “I could not believe my ears, when I realised that the actual cost for my surgery was less than a mil­lion naira. But my greatest shock was when I realised that all the surgery that I did in Ni­geria was a fraud. They cost me my two kid­neys’’, Tina narrated with pain.
Her problem dates back to 2008 when she realised that she was having a constant pain in the right side of her lungs. Conscious of the need to take adequate care of herself, she sought immediate medical attention when the pain was followed by vomiting.
“I had to seek medical attention at a private hospital in Dolphin estate, Ikoyi Lagos. They ran some tests and told me that I have kidney stone.”
She had to go through surgery to remove the supposed stone. “I had to go through surgery and paid N750,000 for the sur­gery. They did not show me what they re­moved from my body when I asked. The doc­tor said that I am very okay now that I should worry myself about recovery and not what was removed. I believed him because I was relieved after the surgery. I had my life back till in 2010 when I noticed blood in my urine.”
When it persisted, Tina decided to visit La­gos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) to receive treatment. “They claimed they tried their best and that I should go to India for fur­ther confirmation. In India, they treated the blood in urine and it stopped. After that, I had to go through another surgery. It was there they removed the stone which I saw with my eyes. They also gave me the worst news which was that my kidney had packed up. ”
Devastated, Tina had no choice but to mop up the little resources she could raise to save her life. “I spent 10,000 dollars on the kidney stone operation. I commenced dialysis and needed to go back for the surgery proper. It is too late to wish that I can turn the hand of time to 2008 when the doctors ruined my life.
“Even when I got to India, I discovered that the price that I was given was double the amount. It was when I got there and told my story to a woman that I met in the plane that I realised the fraud.”
Tina’s tale of woes is one out of several cases of medical fraud hundreds of Nigerians are subjected to in their bid to get medical at­tention abroad.
Unlike Tina, Chief Adele Adetumi’s anger was that their doctor at LUTH knew that his father’s case was beyond remedy and yet he wrote a referral. “His was very bad and the least they could have done for the family was to tell us the truth. I am still in court with that irresponsible doctor. It was deliberate and done to extort money from the family.
My father, who is diabetic, had a kidney failure. It was only one that was affected. Before I got involved, different hospitals had handled his case. By the time I took him to LUTH, it was already bad. I wanted the best but I was specific that if nothing can be done, he should be allowed to gently rest in peace.
“Out of desperation, my sister got a re­ferral and they assured us that he would be cured. I paid almost N10 miilion as the total package. When we got to India, the doctors over there played along with the deceit. They deliberately kept us there, collected our mon­ey and at the end of the day, he died. It was when I started threatening hell on earth, that one of the nurses called me aside and asked if I never knew that my father’s case was beyond medical care. All his lungs were at the brink of collapse before we left Nigeria. They only allowed us to stay, to justify the amount. I also realised that the only amount paid to the hospital was N4 million.
“My only advice to anyone going over there is to go with your money and get ser­vices over there. There are so many criminals among our Nigerian doctors and their col­leagues in India. I am in court and that doctor and his so-called agencies must refund my money.”
LUTH will always take the blame – Agent
Miss Mercy is a nurse and has made so much money escorting patients abroad. She currently runs a clinic in Gbagada area of La­gos that deals mostly in medical tourism.
expdonaloaded blog news correspondent pretending to be an agent requested that she should assist in linking her up with a hospital abroad.
“What is your budget?,” she asked. “Just like in Nigeria, your budget will determine the kind of services you get”, she added.
Throwing more light on what she meant, Mercy said: “We are discussing business here. If the case is bad, then it’s a good business. We just look for a simple hospital in India or Germany that will handle the case. But it is cheaper in India. It’s no one’s fault, LUTH will take the blame as usual.
“Nigerians do not love the truth so, don’t bother yourself explaining. If you tell them that a case is bad, they will leave you and pa­tronize another hospital that will still collect that money.”
Asked if those hospitals are not competent enough to handle cases, Mercy said that they are also good. “They are also good, better than most big hospitals in Nigeria. It’s just that they do not have all the equipment need­ed, but they are good. As long as I am con­cerned, this is business.”
At the end of the negotiation, Mercy agreed to part with 20 per cent of the amount for Saturday Sun’s undercover reporter.
Wrong diagnosis our greatest problem
One of such organisations that special­ise in medical tourism is VS Medicare. It is a division of VS International Pvt Ltd which is a health care company specialising in the manufacturing, export and marketing of phar­maceutical and health care product, medical and laboratory equipment and furniture.
According to Sejal Majithia, Human re­sources manager, their specialists team of doctors ensure that a client receives the best health care treatment and facilities at an af­fordable price.
She explained that for specialised doctor’s opinions and major surgeries. “We have tie up with all senior doctors and appointments are taken without any waiting period.”
On how best, a sick patient or relative gets their services, Majithia explained that before a patient arrives, “we provide all information regarding course of treatment and cost impli­cations as well. We have testimonials from our patients on our website regarding our ser­vice. We believe in maintaining transparency for cost estimates so that there is no feeling of cheating in the mind of a patient.”
When queried why most Nigerians fall victim, Majithia explained that majority of their patients who come for treatment have issues because of wrong diagnosis in Nige­rian hospitals.
“Once a patient comes to India for check-up, we get all the tests done in India though he carries his recent reports. When they send us their reports, we do inform them that all the tests will be done again.”
Better services for patients, quick money for doctors – Health workers
Health workers, who spoke with Satur­day Sun, insist that the main reason Nigeri­ans travel abroad is in search of quality ser­vices. Others alleged that doctors and nurses see it as a means of making quick money. Ac­cording to homeopathic expert, Dr. Chris, the main reason why Nigerians go abroad for treatment is the lack of equipment to carry out surgery.
“Yes, India is one of the best places to have some types of surgery. The reason most Nige­rians go abroad for surgery is that we don’t have the necessary equipment to treat some types of ailment. Do you know how many people have died seeking treatment in Ni­geria alone? How can you justify that? Take a look at hospitals around, ask for common paracetamol and they will refer you outside to buy from a chemist store. So, we have a long way to go if we do not want people to go abroad. I even had to refer one of my patients to Germany recently for a kidney transplant. This country needs the right leaders to help boost and improve the health sector.”
Another medical practitioner, who plead­ed anonymity, was of the same view as he lamented the poor state of hospitals in the country.
“We have experts on these complicated surgeries that can operate even better than those surgeons abroad, but where are the tools, equipment to carry out such surgeries? Who doesn’t like his or her life? It’s obvious that the reason people go to India, Saudi-Ara­bia, Germany and so on is because they have the equipment to work. We have the exper­tise but we are handicapped. We have been having strikes here and there. Government is not helping matters at all. How will hun­gry doctors work? Hospitals around are not equipped and how will doctors work? Unless, we get our indices right, this country won’t move forward.
Dr Steve Donaldson of Heart of Gold medical centre, Imo State accused doctors of conspiring with hospitals abroad to extort money from Nigerians.
“Their agents have visited me severally with outrageous discounts for every patient I refer to their hospital. And those ones are interested in very bad cases. Nigerians should be wise, these doctors are no magicians, if a case is bad, it is bad. I have gotten an offer of making N2 million for each case bad case I refer. It must really be bad so that they will not waste much in trying to prolong the per­son’s life. They will simply inject the patient with a strong drug that will prolong his/her life but at the end of the day that person will die.
“You end up spending money in the name of travelling abroad. Even over there, they have bad cases and people die every day. It’s just that we already have a bad name, so it will be easy to blame us for wrong diag­nosis. Am not saying that these things do not happen in our hospitals but the truth is that most patients in the name of trado medicine destroy their system long before they come to the hospital.
Anosike Elochukwu, who travelled to India three times for treatment, told our cor­respondent: “Some Nigerian doctors are fake, they only go after your money. I was diagnosed with cancer in India in 2009, but in Nigeria they said it had an acute pain in my leg. It was another doctor, Dr. Awoniyi Olu­solade of blessed memory that referred me to Fortis hospital at Rajastan in India where they examined me and told me I had cancer of the bone in my leg. I went three times and during those times, I felt more at ease because for every phase of treatment, I was taken care of. I met about seven Nigerians there also. When I first arrived, my consultant then, Dr. Prash was surprised at the test result I brought to him from Nigeria. He told me that the test was wrong and explained my condition very well to me. Honestly, I have spent N500,000 on treatment alone in Nigeria and my ill­ness then grew worse before I was referred to India. I spent about N2 million in India. It might be expensive, but you get value for your money.
More sad tales
Mr Joseph Okafor, a 64-year-old resident of Ikeja, Lagos, raised an alarm to warn those who may want to embark on a medical trip to India or any other country for that matter, to be wary of fake doctors and surgeons, as they are on the prowl for Nigerians.
He said that his ordeal started in 2010 when he developed a sort of difficulty in walking and was diagnosed of Avascular Necrosis in his hips. His situation led him to seek medical assistance in India for surgery to correct the anomaly on the legs.
On May 12, 2010, he was admitted at a hospital in India and was discharged on June 25, 2010, after what was thought to be a suc­cessful total hip replacement cement (Exeter) on both legs. That was after he spent seven weeks.
In 2011, one of the hips relapsed, and he was forced to return to the hospital, where he was admitted on August 27, 2011. The diag­nosis carried out on the affected hip reveals a loosening with LT femoral and acetabular. A total hip replacement (hybrid cemented cup and uncemented stem) was reportedly car­ried out and he was discharged on October 5, 2011, after spending five weeks. The left hip developed problem again and he was forced to visit an orthopaedic hospital in Ikeja, where he was linked up with one Professor (names withheld), a medical doctor based in India, who visits Nigeria often. He was con­vinced to try the professor.
Okafor contacted the man via mail on May 26, 2014; he also forwarded previous reports and x-rays for better understanding of his situation.
In Professor’s response, he disclosed that the man would need revision surgery for his hip, as the cup was loose and also knee re­placement for right leg. He noted that the sur­geries “can be sorted out in India only, as you do not have implants available in Nigeria.”
For the knee replacement, he charged $8,000 and for revision hip replacement, he charged $9,000, but that if both surgeries are carried out together, the package will be around $15,000.
“This package will include your stay for 20 days in the hospital’s private room, sur­geon charges, hospital charges and others. The package will increase if you need ICU stay after surgery as stay in ICU will be added to original package amount.
“Please, get back to me if you still have queries. I will be coming to Nigeria on June 18, 2014. You will require a letter for visa, which I will need to arrange for you. Do not come through agents in Nigeria as they do not do anything and will charge you heavily,” the mail read.
The man’s last line raised suspicion with Okafor. What heightened his suspicion was the 20 days stay mentioned, and the huge amount of money charged for the opera­tion, considering the fact that during his first surgery, which cost $9,000, he spent seven weeks, his second, which cost $5,000, he stayed for five weeks.
He wondered the type of magic that would be performed within the 20 days. But he al­layed his fear and played along. Regarding the price, they agreed to meet and negotiate when the professor visits Nigeria. Liberty Specialist Hospital, Ilupeju, Lagos was their meeting point and he came in company of Okanu.
“He told me that the price would not be a problem and also that my stay would depend on the recovery level; that if it’s only the cup it wouldn’t be more than $700 to $800, the hip $5,000 and the knee, $3,500. He told me that both surgeries would not be more than $9,000.
“I bought flight tickets for myself and Okanu and we travelled to India. We got there on August 3, 2014 and I was admitted at Oyster & Pearl Hospitals. The final diagno­sis showed failure of previous hip surgeries, revision left THR. The surgery commenced on August 7. But before the commencement of the surgery, the professor demanded that I keep all the money I had on me with him, so that it would not be stolen, but I refused,” Okafor said.
“He later demanded a deposit of $3,500 and thereafter changed it to $4,500 before the surgery commenced and after the surgery he came back with the hospital management to demand another $4,500.
“Instead of the $4,500 he demanded, I gave him only $2,000, with a promise that I would contact Nigeria for the balance. He then seized my passport and other travelling documents. I was surprised and asked him about the agreement we made in Nigeria. My son later sent $2,000 to him. The worst thing was that on August 18, 11 days after the sur­gery, when I was still recuperating, I was dis­charged abruptly and evacuated to the main road around 9.00pm and was forced to move to a hotel.
“Before my forceful discharge, for days the blood evacuator connected to the affected leg was not working and after several com­plaints, they never cared to replace it, which resulted in the bleeding. As at that time, I was still bleeding from the stitches. Every day I spent $120 on hotel bill, the matron upkeep and physiotherapist charges,” he stated.
On August 26, he discovered that the leg had swollen. He was taken back to the hos­pital, where the stitch was undone because of complications to be re-stitched. He spent two days there and was charged additional $800, which jerked up his balance to $1,300.
He claimed that he protested the additional fee and immediately informed his children about the development. One of them called the professor but he denied most of the things that happened, claiming that it was Okafor who demanded to be discharged and lodged in a hotel.
“The whole world is rushing to India, but there are so many criminals there. I finally paid the $9,000, and I believe that it was a gang-up with the hospital’s management to jerk up bills at the expense of their patients. They took me to a slaughter slab, what has hotel to do with a hospital?
“My previous treatment at Revival Hospi­tal, Mumbai was under professional care and good medical and living condition, unlike what I experienced at Oyster & Pearl Hospi­tal. That is what those Indians do,” he said.