Africa-Press – Uganda. Police have arrested four medical officers at Women’s Hospital International and Fertility Clinic Bukoto in Kampala on grounds of negligence following what is suspected to have been a botched Intrauterine Device (IUD) insertion.
The birth control device was allegedly inserted in the uterus of a newlywed bride.
She went into a coma moments after the procedure, a day after walking down the aisle with Mr Derrick Wabwire.
Ms Joan Namutebi became unconscious at the fertility hospital, and was later transferred to Victoria Hospital in what has been described as a “very critical condition.”
The spokesperson of the Criminal Investigations Directorate, Mr Charles Twiine, said the four medical personnel are detained at Kira Road Police Station as investigations into the incident continue.
According to investigators, Ms Namutebi and Mr Wabwire wedded last Friday before visiting the fertility hospital for birth control measures the following day.
Police say the medical personnel checked Namutebi and found her uterus in the wrong position.
“The doctors advised her to take some water, to which she obliged. Thereafter, they inserted an IUD coil. After the procedure, she started feeling pain in the stomach, developed a strong headache and fainted while in the hospital,” Mr Twiine said yesterday.
He said they have learnt that the victim was in her menstrual cycle when the IUD was inserted.
“Our medical investigators tell us that it isn’t allowed to insert an IUD when the woman is in her menstrual cycle,” he said, adding: “We are also doing more medical investigations to find out the real cause of the health problem.”
Hospital response
The hospital spokesman, Mr Arthur Matsiko, confirmed that Ms Namutebi visited their facility as a client but they don’t know what caused the health complication.
“I can’t be sure that the condition she is in now is a result of the procedure she underwent. I have talked to doctors and they say that nobody has ever gone into such a condition after inserting an IUD,” Mr Matsiko said. He said they hope they will get the truth after the police investigations.
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