ALLEGED ASSAULT ON UCH RESIDENT DOCTOR: HOW ONE OF THEM PLANNED TO GUN DOWN A MED LAB SCIENTIST

The attention of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) UCH Chapter, Ibadan has been drawn to the article being circulated in the print, social and electronic media, titled: “Assault on doctor: UCH resident doctors demand justice”; wherein an allegation of assault on a resident doctor in the Haematology Department of the UCH was made against an Assistant Chief Medical Laboratory Scientist in the same department. It is pertinent to inform the public that resident doctors in the UCH laboratory have intentionally decided to create crises in UCH by act of provocation that cannot be substantiated.

Much as the AMLSN would have loved to ignore this propaganda as it’s gradually becoming a routine practice by resident doctors in the sister profession of medicine, this time, under the aegis of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), UCH Chapter; it behoves us as an association to let the public in on the true situation and our side of the story thus:

The resident doctor in question who has had other misunderstanding with the Asst. Chief Medical Laboratory Scientist (ACMLS) on professionalism related issues entered the laboratory and went straight for the heamatological specimen slides where they are archived in the shelve without informing the Medical Laboratory Scientists in the laboratory whose responsibility amongst others is to process, prepare, report, archive the slide and present same on request. Having observed the poor handling of the archived slides without recourse to proper documentation, the ACMLS gently advised on this approach employed by resident doctor in retrieving the archived specimen slide which could result in loss or damage to the slides and so render all effort put in by the Medical Laboratory Scientist in preparing the slides wasted with attending future challenge to the patients’ diagnosis and treatment follow up. In the presence of witnesses, the resident doctor flared up (apparently not comfortable that a Medical Laboratory Scientist could tell her what to do), pushed and poked at the nose of the Medical Laboratory Scientist with a threatPP that if she ever gave such advice she would get more violent reaction. Witnesses around tried to calm her, but she stormed out of the laboratory only to return in the company of the ‘HOD’, Haematology Department and alleged that she was assaulted. Consequently, the ACMLS was further harassed.

Typical of our friends, they took this as another opportunity to blackmail and went to report the case at the nearest police station while granting press interview to call for public sympathy.

We like to place on record, that although we are used to internal resolution of events like this in the interest of peace in the sector, since they chose to bring this to the court of public opinion, may we also inform the public that we have had cases of documented and undocumented harassment and assault on Medical Laboratory Scientists in UCH by resident doctors. The most recent case of physical assault against our member (a Senior Medical Laboratory Scientist), by a resident doctor from the Pathology Department of the hospital who attacked and threatened to “gun down” the Medical Laboratory Scientist in question as he claimed to be a Major in the Nigerian Army and he is licensed to kill, which occurred on 18th February, 2016 in the presence of witnesses, is still before the management.

The ARD UCH Chapter has the habit of going to the media to lie to the public. Not too long ago, the association alleged that a resident doctor was raped in UCH. In late 2015, one of them raised an alarm on a live radio interview programme, that a female resident doctor was raped while on duty at UCH. Anybody hearing this would like to know the authenticity of this claim. So also was the programme presenter who challenged him if he was serious with what he was saying. Alas! Nothing was heard about the allegation again.

If resident doctors in UCH cry foul and demand justice, they should not thrive on lies and cheap propaganda. We challenge the association of resident doctors in UCH to provide a proof or witnesses of the acclaimed assault on the said resident doctor. Can the case of assault on the said resident doctor be established?

As it has been the case in previous events (e.g. cited above), rather than this resident doctor being the victim, she was actually the aggressor. It is therefore not surprising to read about the blackmail targeted at the Medical Laboratory Scientist from the incident as a fall out of the Medical Laboratory Scientists vs. Pathologists long standing imbroglio and the recent realities dawning on them that the days of impunity are over. The ongoing effort by the resident doctors to attract public sympathy when indeed she is the culprit is tantamount to an offender reporting first to the police to pervert justice on the ground that she was the first complainant and this will not work because the public is well informed about their antics.

We hereby demand that the ARD in UCH:

1. Provides proof of assault on the resident doctor in question
2. Should immediately through another press briefing/interview, retract the said publication and
3. Tender apology to the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, UCH Chapter, Ibadan for defamation and misleading report all in a bit to garner public sympathy.

AMLSN members as law-abiding healthcare professionals are known for seeking redress in court in the face of intimidation, harassment and flagrant abuse of power by our friends in the sister profession of Medicine and Surgery. We shall continually depend on the instrumentality of the laws of the land to seek justice and eventual liberation from the modern day professional slavery by the pathologists who are full of professional chauvinism.
May God bless Nigeria!!!