Adeleke’s family faults pathologist’s claim on autopsy report

From Clement Adeyi, Osogbo

Family of Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who died in Osogbo, capital of Osun State, last month, has faulted claims by the chief pathologist, Dr. Taiwo Solaja, that his family is not entitled to the autopsy report.

This, Solaja said, was on the grounds that it was his boss and Chief Medical Director of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Prof. Akeem Lasisi, that gave him the instruction to conduct the autopsy and not the Adeleke’s family.

Solaja had, on May 19, 2017, told the coroner’s inquest ordered by Governor Rauf Aregbesola to determine the cause of Adeleke’s death and that it was unethical to submit the autopsy report to the Adeleke family since they were not the ones who ordered for it but the Coroner, under the instruction of the Chief Medical Director.

Dr. Deji Adeleke, who expressed the family’s dissatisfaction with the manner the autopsy report was handled by the pathologist and hospital authorities, yesterday, described the claim as complete falsehood, unjustifiable, unethical, unprofessional and utterly ridiculous.

He also said LAUTECH Teaching Hospital refused to release the remaining sample of tissues removed from the body of the late senator for autopsy, “which would have helped the family seek a second autopsy from an ethical, professional and non-political medical facility outside Osun state.”

Adeleke, who insisted that the family reserved the right to be given the autopsy report, claimed that they were the ones that took the body of the late senator to LAUTECH Teaching Hospital and requested that an autopsy be conducted, after paying cash for the exercise and a representative of the family, Mrs Dupe Adeleke-Sanni, signed an authorisation letter on behalf of the family.

He lamented that the hospital authorities did not issue any receipt for the payment because it was on a Sunday, adding that despite that, Prof. Lasisi promised to issue the receipt on Monday, the family had not been issued the receipt up till now.

“The family ordered for the conduct of the autopsy from the Osun State Government-owned LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, as an institution and not from the Chief pathologist, Dr. Solaja, as a person. The whole autopsy business was conducted with the family by Prof. Lasisi,” Adeleke said.

Adeleke, who reiterated that the family did not intend to fight anybody over the passing away of their son, but only wanted to know the cause of his death, said they had decided to “leave everything to God and we rest our case.”