Where did celebrity chef Mrs. Adepeju ‘Peju’ Ugboma die? Contrary to media reports, it was not at Premier Specialist Medical Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
A document endorsed at the Lagos State High Court seen by The Nation on Thursday showed that Mrs Ugboma died at 3pm on April 25, 2021, at Evercare Hospital Lekki Ltd, (Evercare).
The Director, Medical Critical Care Unit, Neuro Anaesthesia & CCU of Evercare Hospital Lekki Ltd, (Evercare), Dr Victor Raji, stated this in September 10, 2021, affidavit he swore at the court at Igbosere.
Dr Raji explained that Premier Specialist Medical Centre was required to issue the deceased’s death certificate because doctors from Premier were still present when she died “especially as the Patient spent less than 24 hours under Evercare’s care and the case also fits that of a coroner.”
Mrs Ugboma, 41, was the founder and chief executive officer, of a pastry company, I Luv Desserts.
Her death is the subject of a coroner’s inquest that is investigating her family’s allegations of medical negligence against Premier Specialist Medical Centre.
The inquest is holding a Magistrate Court in the Ogba, Lagos, with Mr Makaila Fadeyi as the coroner.
Dr Raji stated in the affidavit that Ugboma was referred from the Premier Specialists Medical Centre (Premier) to Evercare “for critical care, mechanical ventilation, and renal replacement therapy on Sunday 25th April 2021, through Dr Muyideen Orolu, Evercare’s Consultant Nephrologist.”
He explained that the Patient was said to have had “a hysterectomy complicated with acute kidney injury and multiple organ failure.
“The medical report also showed that the Patient was already placed on high doses of a combination of vasopressors and was placed on mechanical ventilator synchronised intermittent mandatory ventilation mode overnight in Premier when the Patient also developed difficulty with breathing and desaturating on high flow of oxygen via facemask.”
On the patient’s arrival at Evercare from Premier at about 1:43pm on April 25, Dr Raji said he went to Evercare to personally see to her admission into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU),” adding that, “the Patient was having laboured breathing even on a mechanical ventilator.”
He explained that the Patient was quickly transferred to the ICU following a very abridged Emergency Room (ER) admission process.
During the process of transferring the patient to the ICU bed, she suffered a cardiac arrest.
Her husband was “politely informed to excuse the team, to focus on efforts to restore heart function,” but after 45 minutes of CPR, the patient was “declared clinically dead at 3pm on 25th April 2021.