Chimamanda Adichie Accuses Lagos Hospital of Negligence in Son’s Death

Renowned Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has accused a Lagos-based hospital of medical negligence in the death of her young son, Nkanu, following a medical procedure carried out on January 6 at Euracare Hospital.

In a detailed personal account, confirmed by her media team, Adichie said her son’s death resulted from serious lapses in care during what she described as routine medical procedures. She maintained that Nkanu would still be alive but for what she called fatal errors by medical personnel.

According to Adichie, the family was in Lagos for the Christmas holidays when her son developed symptoms initially thought to be a cold, which later worsened into a severe infection. He was admitted to Atlantis Hospital, where plans were made for an emergency medical evacuation to the United States the following day. A medical team at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore was reportedly on standby and had requested an MRI scan and lumbar puncture, alongside the insertion of a central line to prepare for the flight.

Atlantis Hospital subsequently referred the family to Euracare Hospital to carry out the procedures. Adichie said her son was sedated to prevent movement during the MRI and central line insertion. While waiting outside the theatre, she noticed several medical staff, including a senior doctor, rushing into the room, which she said immediately raised alarm.

She was later informed that her son had been administered an excessive dose of the anaesthetic drug propofol, causing him to become unresponsive. Although he was resuscitated, he was intubated, placed on a ventilator and transferred to the intensive care unit. Adichie said her son later suffered seizures and cardiac arrest — conditions he had never previously experienced — and died several hours afterward.

The writer further alleged that her son was not properly monitored after being sedated, claiming there was no continuous observation to determine when he became unresponsive. She also alleged that after the central line procedure, the anaesthesiologist switched off her son’s oxygen before transporting him to the ICU.

“How can you sedate a sick child and neglect to monitor him?” Adichie asked in her account, describing the actions as criminally negligent and a violation of standard medical protocols. She said the family had brought in a child who was ill but stable and preparing to travel the next day, only for routine procedures to end in tragedy.

Adichie also claimed that Euracare Hospital was aware of at least two previous cases involving alleged anaesthetic overdoses by the same practitioner and questioned why the individual was allowed to continue practising.

“This must never happen to another child,” she said.