…Chimamanda and her partner, Dr Ivara Esege, accused the hospital, its anaesthesiologist, of breaching the duty of care owed to their son.
LAGOS, NIGERIA- The iNews Times | Solicitors representing acclaimed Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie have written to Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital, Lagos, over the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu Nnamdi, as the Lagos State Government confirmed the suspension of the anaesthesiologist involved in the case.
In a legal notice dated January 10, 2026, the lawyers, acting for Chimamanda and her partner, Dr Ivara Esege, accused the hospital, its anaesthesiologist, and other medical personnel of breaching the duty of care owed to their son, who died in the early hours of Wednesday, January 7, 2026. The notice was issued by PINHEIRO LP and signed by its founding partner, Prof Kemi Pinheiro (SAN).
According to the notice, the child was referred to Euracare on January 6, 2026, from Atlantis Pediatric Hospital for several diagnostic and preparatory procedures, including an echocardiogram, brain MRI, insertion of a peripherally inserted central catheter, and a lumbar puncture. The procedures were part of preparations for an emergency medical evacuation to the United States, where a specialist team was reportedly on standby.
The solicitors said intravenous sedation was administered using propofol. However, during transfer to the cardiac catheterisation laboratory after the MRI, the child allegedly developed sudden and severe complications. They claimed that despite being under deep sedation, he was moved between clinical areas under conditions that raised serious concerns about adherence to patient-safety protocols. He was later pronounced dead on January 7.
The notice listed several alleged lapses in paediatric anaesthetic and procedural care, including questions over the suitability and cumulative dosage of propofol in a critically ill child, inadequate airway protection, and failure to ensure continuous physiological monitoring. It further alleged that the child was transferred without supplemental oxygen, adequate monitoring, or sufficient medical personnel, and that basic resuscitation equipment was either unavailable or not deployed promptly.
The Chimamanda and her partner also accused the hospital of failing to properly disclose the risks associated with propofol and other anaesthetic agents, thereby undermining the requirement for informed consent. The solicitors said the alleged lapses amounted to prima facie breaches of duty of care and rendered the hospital and medical personnel liable for medical negligence.
As part of their next legal steps, the parents demanded certified copies of all medical records related to their son’s treatment within seven days. These include admission notes, consent forms, anaesthetic charts, monitoring logs, drug records, nursing notes, ICU records, incident reports, and the identities of all staff involved. They also requested internal reviews, safety logs from the MRI suite, and all other documents connected to the child’s care.
The hospital was formally placed on notice to preserve all physical and electronic evidence, including CCTV footage, monitoring data, pharmacy records, emergency equipment logs, and internal communications. The solicitors warned that any loss or alteration of evidence would be treated as obstruction of justice, with legal consequences.
They further warned that failure to comply with the demands would leave the parents with no option but to pursue all available legal, regulatory, and judicial remedies.
In a statement on Saturday, Euracare Hospital said it had begun a “detailed investigation” into the incident in line with its clinical governance standards and pledged transparency in engaging regulatory authorities.
Also on Saturday, the Lagos State Government announced it had commenced an investigation. Providing an update on Sunday, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Kemi Ogunyemi, confirmed that the anaesthesiologist involved had been suspended by the hospital.
“It’s an active investigation,” Ogunyemi said, adding that both the government and the hospital were conducting parallel probes and that interviews with relevant personnel would continue. She stressed that the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency would follow due process and apply the law accordingly.
Meanwhile, the family doctor and the child’s aunt, Dr Anthea Nwandu, faulted the hospital’s account of events. While Euracare maintained that it followed standard procedures and that the child had been treated at two facilities before arriving at its centre, Nwandu disputed this, insisting he had only been in one hospital prior to Euracare.
Nwandu, a dual board-certified physician with decades of experience in Nigeria and the United States, alleged that international standards for paediatric sedation were not followed. She claimed the child was not given continuous oxygen therapy or monitoring and was transferred between hospital units without proper resuscitative equipment.
She further questioned what she described as unsafe handling of the sedated child during transfers, arguing that the lack of monitoring made it impossible to determine when the child stopped breathing or how long resuscitation was delayed.
According to Nwandu, the child was medically stable and scheduled for a medical evacuation flight to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore before the alleged negligence occurred.
Public outrage erupted on social media after Chimamanda accused Euracare of negligence. In her statement, the writer said her son developed what was initially thought to be a cold but later became a severe infection. She alleged that after being sedated for procedures, he was not properly monitored and was given an excessive dose of propofol, leading to seizures, cardiac arrest, and ultimately his death.
