" The attitude feeds on arrogance which can be a poisoned fuel when the arrogant is in a power position. Arrogance is deadly when it is driven by a wretched absence of basic humility and true self-awareness- common sense. Is arrogance inculcated in medical trainees in medical schools? If yes, some cultural change may be necessary in medical training.There is abundant evidence that human beings however well-educated and trained cannot be omniscient, even in their professions. Humility like Ethics should be part of all functional and purposive education and training menu. A good education is usually an amalgam of hard and soft knowledge."
These expression are loaded with significant meanings and recommends the need for re-inventing knowledge and for re-asserting the superiority of wisdom over knowledge. It is almost as if the world is suffering from what amounts to the arrogance of reason.Could the history of modern scientific knowledge coming from somewhere- where race almost has come to mean reason and reason has come to mean pride be the source of this or can it squarely be located in the individuals that imbibe this knowledge? Could it be that some form of knowledge could function better in and through some individuals than others?
Lawence Ogbo Ugwuanyi,Ph.D
Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy
GZU-Zimbabwe/
UNIABUJA.
On Sunday, June 8, 2014 8:45 PM, "Anunoby, Ogugua"<AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu> wrote:
Dora Akunyilu serve her country to the best of her ability. We remember the many times in her life, she stood up when others would not . May her soul rest in peace.
Some medical practitioners carry-on like medical practice is based on precise science which it often times is not. The attitude feeds on arrogance which can be a poisoned fuel when the arrogant is in a power position. Arrogance is deadly when it is driven by a wretched absence of basic humility and true self-awareness- common sense. Is arrogance inculcated in medical trainees in medical schools? If yes, some cultural change may be necessary in medical training. There is abundant evidence that human beings however well-educated and trained cannot be omniscient, even in their professions. Humility like Ethics should be part of all functional and purposive education and training menu. A good education is usually an amalgam of hard and soft knowledge.
The case of the Indian doctor in ABA's posting below is instructive. The Indian doctor may have misheard ABA's Ghana for Guyana. The shame is that he was stridently defensive after he was corrected by his patient- an NYU doctoral student. He would be expected to be embarrassed by his ignorance of elementary school geography. But no. He is a surgeon in New York City. He could not be wrong. Even if he was, it should not matter. Why was this doctor not more respectful of his patient one may ask? What might have happened had the patient been less educated, less confident, and too deferential to this scalpel-wielding surgeon?
The reality is that medical malpractice including misdiagnosis, is difficult to prove and quite expensive to pursue. Medical practitioners may support each other in malpractice disputation. The medical profession is very together and her lobby is powerful and effective in many countries. This helps to ensure that the law tends to be more on their side when it should be more on the side of innocent, fee-paying victims. That some politicians have called medical malpractice lawyers "ambulance-chasers" say much about their proclivity. All the above and more are still no reasons for the not-too-faint hearted who are malpractice victims, not to seek justice. Doctors save lives. They take lives too.
oa
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Assensoh, Akwasi B.
Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2014 4:38 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Cc: naijaintellects@googlegroups.com; nigerianID@yahoogroups.com; NaijaPolitics e-Group; anthonyakinola@yahoo.co.uk; Afoaku, Osita; szalanga7994@msn.com; andohs1@southernct.edu; Ford, T Michael
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: - OBITUARY: How misdiagnosis led to Dora's death
Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2014 4:38 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Cc: naijaintellects@googlegroups.com; nigerianID@yahoogroups.com; NaijaPolitics e-Group; anthonyakinola@yahoo.co.uk; Afoaku, Osita; szalanga7994@msn.com; andohs1@southernct.edu; Ford, T Michael
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: - OBITUARY: How misdiagnosis led to Dora's death
Dear VC Aluko:
Thank you very much for your posting because several friends of mine and I, personally, adored Mrs. Akunyili. First and foremost, may she rest in perfect peace and, also, my family and I extend our most heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of the Great Nation of Nigeria and Mrs. Akunyili's nuclear family.
Second, please what can we do about illnesses being misdiagnosed by some doctors? Is that not part of medical malpractice? If so, then where is the remedy to deal drastically with the misdiagnosing doctors?
I ask the questions above because even in the U.S., misdiagnosing goes on a lot. I remember that, in 1983, after sitting down for hours to draft and type my dissertation on a common celetric typewriter (not on computer at that time), I developed acute lower back pains that an Indian medical doctor and a mainstream white medical doctor (from Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Hospital in New York) claimed to be a "localized cancerous growth in my spine." Both doctors planned an emergency surgery on me at St. Vincent Hospital, where they also had medical practice.
What saved me from the imminent surgery was that New York University (NYU), per my medical insurance and as its graduate student, was liable for about 50% of my medical bills. Therefore, a week before the scheduled surgery, an NYU top-notch oncologist was dispatched to St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, NY, to examine all of my X-Rays, including my expensive lower back MRI results. He concluded that I did not have any "localized cancer", but that after sitting down for hours upon hours to type, I had a minor rapture around a disc that could be treated with prescribed medication.
In fact, the reason I anxiously sought NYU doctors' opinion(s) was because of an ignorance the Indiana doctor (one of the two original surgeons) exhibited. When he brought his Columbia University medical colleague to see me, he said: "This is A.B. Assensoh, who goes by his initials as A.B. He is NYU Ph.D. student from Guyana..."
"Doctor, did you say Guyana? No, I am from Ghana", I said calmly.
"Oh, you said Ghana? But what is the difference, not the same?" The Indian medical doctor astonishingly asked me.
"There is a lot of difference: Ghana is in West Africa, and Guyana is in the Caribbean, or somewhere near South America, nowhere near Africa" I theorized.
The white surgeon said, "Oh, yes, I had three classmates in Medical School from Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia, and I knew they said they were from West Africa."
After the exchange with the Indian doctor, I was resolved not to allow him, as the lead surgeon, to operate on my "precious" lower back, more so as it was also an exploratory surgery that had been planned for me! However, thanks to the NYU oncologist, who made it easier for me to have no surgery, anyway! So, please let's speak up when we see medical diagnoses!
A.B. Assensoh.
From:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Mobolaji Aluko [alukome@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2014 1:46 PM
To:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Cc:naijaintellects@googlegroups.com; nigerianID@yahoogroups.com; NaijaPolitics e-Group
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: - OBITUARY: How misdiagnosis led to Dora's death
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2014 1:46 PM
To:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Cc:naijaintellects@googlegroups.com; nigerianID@yahoogroups.com; NaijaPolitics e-Group
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: - OBITUARY: How misdiagnosis led to Dora's death
My People:
May her soul rest in perfect peace. She was a true patriot in many respects.
Bolaji Aluko
On Saturday, June 7, 2014, FabiyiLive <fabiyi@live.com> wrote:
> OBITUARY: How misdiagnosis led to Dora's death
>
> 2014-06-07 12:26 by TheCable
>
> When Mrs Dora Nkem Akunyili was the Zonal Secretary (South-east) of the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund in 1998, Nigerian doctors gave her what many of her family members considered to be a health scare. They said she had a growth and needed surgery.
>
> Akunyili, then 44, decided to travel to the United States, first to get a second opinion and then undergo the prescribed surgery. The bill for the medical trip was $17,000, including $12,000 for the surgery.
>
> During pre-surgery check-up in the US, the doctors told her the Nigerian doctors had made a wrong diagnosis and that she did not need any surgery. It was said to be a minor issue that medication would solve.
>
> She thanked the doctors and, to their surprise, said she was going to return the money meant for the surgery to PTF. That was strange. Nigerian government officials had devised a way of making sure such monies were not returned to the treasury.
>
> The hospital informed the PTF, under the leadership of Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, about one honest Nigerian they had found. Buhari, himself a straightforward person, was very impressed. He wrote a letter to Akunyili commending her honesty.
>
> NAFDAC
>
> Then came 2001. President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted to appoint a director-general for the National Agency for Drug and Food Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and asked for the recommendation of an honest Nigerian pharmacist. Akunyili's name promptly came up. Someone who had heard about her PTF record recommended her.
>
> There was a little problem, a Nigerian problem. Objections were raised that the minister of health, Prof. ABC Nwosu, was an Igbo from Anambra State and NAFDAC, being a powerful agency under the ministry, should not be headed by another Igbo from Anambra.
>
> It was also argued that the market for fake and substandard products were controlled by the Igbo, with Onitsha – also in Anambra State – a major centre for the illicit business. She was going to protect "her people", the antagonists said.
>
> Obasanjo, stubborn to the cause, ignored the observations and appointed her. She went on to do a credible job and ended up as one of the most outstanding public officers in Nigeria's history, celebrated locally and globally.
>
> She had lost a sister to fake drugs, and that was perhaps the impetus she needed to go on the offensive.
>
> Misdiagnosis
>
> Meanwhile, Akunyili always went abroad for check-ups and she was always given an all-clear. She continued to look robust and energetic, and took up another government job as minister of information and communications.
>
> But on July 13, 2013, something strange happened to her. She was preparing to travel to the United States to receive an award. The following day was her birthday. Her 59th, precisely. Then she fell ill. She was physically weak and having pains. She decided to go ahead with her trip and attend to her health in the United States.
>
> It was while she was there that new checks were carried out. Alas, she had cancer. The original diagnosis in 1998 was right. But the diagnosis at the point of surgery was wrong.
>
> She became seriously ill and there were fears she could lose her life. She was in the hospital for months and only returned to Nigeria this year when the doctors said she was improving.
>
> Her last public appearance was at the National Conference in Abuja, where she was a delegate. Pictures of a frail-looking Akumyili soon went viral on the internet.
>
> TheCable could not ascertain the type of cancer, but there are several reports pinpointing cervical.
>
> Globally, cervical cancer is the second most common and the fifth deadliest cancer in women, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
>
> Akunyili died on June 7, 2014 in India after surviving many death rumours.
>
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