Fresh facts have emerged on the matter involving a food stuff trader, Mercy Duru Ezinne, who posed as a medical doctor with the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Abeokuta, Ogun State, only to perfect her plans to defraud a patient with a heart disease of millions of Naira
Recall that we earlier reported that 35-year old Mercy, whose highest educational qualification was as certificate in auxiliary nursing, had allegedly collected the sum #400,000 from the patient, one Hassan Olawale, for treatment and further promised to take him to her German doctor in Accra, Ghana, for a heart transplant, on the payment of #10million
It appears her plan to carry out the illegal heart transplant was threatened after the contacted male doctor became suspicious of the woman doctor’s moves
A source from the FSARS, where the suspect is being detained disclosed that the suspect deposed to had been able to secure a man willing to donate his heart to Hassan, after being involved in a train accident, but would only do so at a cost of #4million naira. After which she will arrange to have him moved to Ghana to be operated upon by her German doctor friend with a machine that she would import from America.
While this was going on, the source stated that one Dr. Raji of FMC, who had previously been involved one way and another in Hassan’s case, became suspicious of the “woman doctor” and alerted operatives of FSARS, who trailed and successfully apprehended her.
Crimepuzzle had a chat with Dr. Raji and here was his submission:
“About three weeks ago, I received a phone call from a patient being managed for congestive cardiac failure and was on requisite medications.
“The patient subsequently asked me to speak with his friend, a certain “Dr Mercy” ( Mercy Duru), who asked about the details of the patients health, particularly with respect to getting or need for a heart transplant; this was countered as the patients condition was not deemed to have deteriorated to the extent to need such measures.
“The said Dr Mercy adamantly insisted on the need for a transplant and also to get a life support machine as well. At this juncture, I proceeded to explain to “Dr Mercy” that heart transplants were different from other paired organ transplants, I also told here that centre’s for heart transplants were not available in Nigeria. “I took the pains to also explain the getting heart transplant done outside the country requires him being on a list which will be determined by his clinical status and other parameters as well. I concluded by telling her that with strict medication adherence and life style modification, he can live a meaningful life. “Dr Mercy” then asked if heart transplants can be as expensive as 10million naira, which I replied in the affirmative, and may even be more than that if the patient eventually requires it.”I never heard from the patient again until after about 2weeks.
He called telling me he was in respiratory distress and was having cough, which prevented him from sleeping. He told me he was in a popular hotel (he had secured a temporary abode and wanted to see me). On getting to the place, he was in respiratory distress and narrated how “Dr Mercy” had been treating him in the previous two weeks. She asked him to do some investigations at her choiced laboratory, claiming all the previous ones he did, even at the government hospital, were irrelevant.
“After presenting the results, she asked him to pay for certain medications notably Rocephine(a 3rd generation cephalosporin), zoladex(an anti sex hormone used for treating patients with prostate cancer and breast cancer). He narrated how she had given him intravenous ceftriaxone intramuscular, leaving him with severe pains in the lower limbs for days. “Dr Mercy” also gave him lots of intravenous fluids, a relative contraindications in his state worsening his clinical conditions and had him transfer the sum of #400,000, to procure some drugs”, Dr. Raji revealed.
According to Dr. Raji, Mercy later called the victim, telling him that she had been able to secure a man willing to donate his heart, after being involved in a train accident, but would only do so at a cost of #4million naira, after which she would arrange to have him moved to Ghana to be operated upon by her German doctor friend with a machine that she would be importing from America.
“He was evacuated from the hotel and admitted in the hospital where proper medical attention was instituted, during which Mercy kept on calling the patient and threatening that she will cancel the heart transplant if he fails to remit the 4million naira she requested for.
“I later arranged with the patient to get the so called Dr mercy arrested so as to prevent others from falling victim of her scheme. I informed the FSARS, Ogun State, some of their men started trailing her. Attempt at getting her arrested proved abortive as she was never at home and we were informed that she had started parking her belongings from the apartment.
“The patient was then asked to place a call to Mercy, pleading with her to come to the hospital and rescue him, and that the treatment he was being given was not working for him. Dr mercy was very annoyed that he had to seek medical attention from another hospital. She reluctantly came to the hospital in the company of her driver and two other…
